Publications

This report analyzes the findings of the desk and field research on the public attitudes towards accepting refugees and migrants in seven countries of Central and Eastern Europe: Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.1 The research was conducted in mid-2017, when three focus groups were set up in each of the countries under study to gauge the responses to arguments for admission of refugees, identify positions against reception of beneficiaries of protection and track the impact of personal experience as well as media coverage on the respondents’ standpoints.2 The analysis of the focus group results is complemented by a brief background study of the current migration situation, policy developments and public opinion in the areas of migration and asylum. This regional report seeks to identify the commonalities in the public attitudes among this diverse group of countries, focusing on the impact of the 2015 migration crisis and suggesting some long-term implications of a shift in the views among a substantial group of respondents for the national and European debates on the issue.