ABSTRACT
From the end of the 1980s onward, the central and eastern European countries (CEECs) saw their discredited former systems go through a process of transition and transformation. The ultimate aim of these countries was to build developed, democratic and pluralistic societies based on parliamentary democracy and a free market economy. That process was cemented by the inclusion of CEECs in various western political, economic and military structures, in particular—from 1 May 2004—the European Union (EU). The transformation processes were, and are, typical of the dramatic changes that have affected all spheres of society in these countries. Obviously, one of the phenomena associated with the new political and economic structures is international migration together with its complex impacts, such as how immigrants adapt to the new societies and their activities within them.
