Central Europe, which has been closed for a long time, has opened its doors to Ukrainian refugees.

In 2015, he was criticized for closing doors to immigrants and refugees from the Middle East and Africa, and seven years later the countries of Central Europe are accepting an unprecedented number of people who survived the war in Ukraine.

In the last wave of migrants in 2015, which brought more than a million refugees to Europe, the countries of the so-called Visegrad group (Slovakia, Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic) opposed the system implemented by the European Union to redistribute this flow of arrivals.

However, after Russia attacked Ukraine on February 24, the four former communist states that remained in Moscow's orbit until 1989, spared no effort to help those who survived the war.

Analysts cite the cultural, linguistic and geographical proximity to Ukraine and the fact that the majority of new refugees are women and children who are transforming this strategic shift.

“Today, the situation is completely different,” says sociologist Martin Buchtik at the STEM Institute in Prague.

Ukraine “is a society that is very close to us culturally, but people in the Middle East, unlike Western countries, are far apart and have no experience,” he told AFP.

According to Buchatik, the impact caused by the war is an important factor.

“The situation has just happened and there is no room for discussion. It's not for nothing that the first phase of a shocking phenomenon is called +VIR +.”

More than 3 million Ukrainians fled to neighboring countries such as Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Moldova, and most of all, Poland, and they alone received about 2 million refugees.

More than 200,000 people from the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia met.

- Changes from 2015 -

According to analyst Grigoryz Mesznikov based in Bratislava, media coverage of the invasion also contributed to this change.

He said: “The suffering of the Ukrainian people was so great that the Slovaks became sympathetic to Ukrainian refugees.”

The wave of immigrants in 2015 became a political challenge for four countries that were particularly afraid to oppose voters if they welcomed people from other conflicts, such as Syria or Afghanistan.

However, today this issue provokes consensus among the population, who in the past faced the oppression of Moscow.

Anna Meyrska-Sosnovska, a political scientist at the University of Warsaw, explains that Poland's historical hatred of Russia plays its role according to the expression “the enemy of our enemy is our friend.”

“Polish society responded well and the government had to continue. Our cultural and linguistic proximity was important.” I told AFP.

According to her, “The fact that people mainly see women and children increases compassion.”

This situation occurred a few months ago, when, according to Warsaw, the government ordered the construction of a fence on the border with Belarus to prevent a significant flow of immigrants from the Middle East, coordinated by Minsk and Moscow.

In 2015, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban expressed fierce opposition to the arrival of refugees and installed a fence on the border with Serbia.

- Dora Standard -

Even now, the supernationalist Orban distinguishes himself from others by his close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his refusal to send weapons to Ukraine defended by the European Union.

However, it was worthwhile to accept several Ukrainians from Hungary to the Transcarpathia border area.

“Hungary will continue to help refugees and refuse to migrate,” he said. “Two different words in Hungarian. Immigrants: Stop it. Refugees can get all the help they need.” He bluntly argued.

In his definition of non-compliance with international law, Orban said: “We are South (...) able to distinguish between immigrants and refugees.

The UN describes refugees as “people outside their country of origin because of fear of persecution, conflict, widespread violence, or other situations that have seriously disrupted public order.”

However, Czech sociologist Buchatik warns that this perception may change in terms of difficulties caused by the pandemic and rising prices for energy and fuel.

“The change of mood depends on the burden that is imposed on society. It is not yet known how many people will come and how many will remain.”

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