Ethnic policies of EU members neighbouring with Poland

The aim of this article is to outline the ethnic policies of the Member States of the European Union neighbouring with Poland, namely Lithuania, Germany, Chechia and Slovakia. It is an essential subject if we consider that these aforementioned states are simultaneously the home countries of a few legally recognised minorities residing in Poland. Naturally, their ethnic policies affect both the perception and evaluation of Polish endeavours in this aspect by Czechs, Lithuanians, Germans and Slovaks. On the other hand, despite Poland’s defiance of the reciprocity rule in terms of protection and respecting minority laws, there is no doubt the acts or nonfeasance of these states toward the Poles residing on their respective territories affect the Polish public opinion. Additionally, it indirectly influences the entities responsible for shaping and enacting ethnic policies of the Third Polish Republic. Moreover, each of the aforementioned states, due to certain geopolitical changes on these territories at the turn of 1980s and 1990s, were forced to revaluate their own policies on the matter. In some cases, especially the most recent, to develop them from scratch which, in turn, allows us to compare the processes of their creation