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Playlist: Poland

Compiled By: Eva Breneman

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Ewa Pietruszka: From Poland to Holland and Back

From Anton Foek | 16:32

After 5 years working blueberries in Holland Ewa comes back to Poland and tells her story of succes and happiness.

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Recently, as the recession continues in the  Western World including Europe, more Polish people are returning home to the lands of their birth.

The economic gap between their homecountry and the rest of the world has decreased and Poland hopes for a stronger and better recovery than many other EU countries.

Moreover, the zloty has gained ground against other currencies. And at the same time average wages have almost doubled in Poland, so many Polish migrants who at one time were attracted by prospectz of finding work in other countries are finding that financially they may as well stay at home.

Ewa Pietruszka from the OKAP in Opole uses such statistics and says that they are available and show that the large numbers of new Polish immigrants to Western Europe hase slowed down. 

Figures show that in 2012 the number of Poles travelling to Western Europe  was dencreasing only after increasing the years before.

The Institute for Public Policy Research produced figures claiming that half of the estimated 1.5 million Poles who had entered the country since 2004 from Eastern Europe had gone back home.

However those claims were questioned by the Centre for International Affairs in Warsaw. The centre claimed that  millions of Polish workers still live in Western Europe including workers, students and dependants.

Also the Polish Central Statistical Office, which produces its own estimates of Poles working abroad said that the number of Polish workers had fallen., although official figures were not available, unemployment rates in Poland are stable.

This would also indicate that not as many Poles had returned from the UK as are claimed by the IPPR figures.

However, the recovery  in Poland has led to many reversing their earlier decision to look for work elsewhere and are buying one-way tickets to the Poland again.

Once again, because of the fluctuations due to seasonable labour and inconsistencies with official figures it is difficult to say with any precision, not only how many Polish people are working in Western Europe at any one time but also how many Poles are leaving to return to their place of birth.

From Poland: Adam Kepinski. Who else?

From Anton Foek | Part of the Poland, a transition country series | 17:42

Adam Kepinski from Poland went to Western Europe to make some money. He did and invested the earned funds in his political career and is now a respected member of the Polish Parliament on his way to the European Parliament in Brussels.

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As a young boy and growing up child in his native Poland Adam Kepinskis dream was to become a poltician. Het listened to news about members the Polisch Parliament and wanted to become like them, changing things that were not right, bending wrongs in society.

From his native Poland he went to Western Europe and found his fortunes working very hard as a crane driver.
Returning to Poland he invested his funds in education and graduated from the Opole University as an MBA bachelor and Master.

He also started running his  own business, he was chairman of the board of the company with limited liability and is now member of the Dutch Polish friendship board.

He became member of the Democratic Left Alliance and restructured the local party in Ozimek. 
He ran unsuccesfully in the local 2010 elections as a nonpartisan.  InHolland he marched against the extrme right wing politicians.

In 2011 he won a seat as the first on the list of Opole and a parliamentary seat inm Watrsaw yielding almost 12 000 votes. 
Since February 22, 2013 he necame a member of the Democratic Left Alliance and hopes to score high in the European elections. Focusing on migration issues.