%0 Journal Article %J Central and Eastern European Migration Review %D 2013 %T Migration and Socio-Demographic Processes in Central and Eastern Europe: Characteristics, Specificity and Internal Differences %A Grzymała-Kazłowska, Aleksandra %K Central and Eastern Europe %K migration %X Although Central and Eastern Europe is sometimes referred to as a buffer zone (Iglicka 2001) because of its location between the huge Asian continent and Western Europe, it is also an area of intense and diverse migration flows both internal and external. In a broader sense, the region of Central and Eastern Europe may include countries of the Visegrád Group (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia), the states of the former USSR, as well as southern post-communist states, Bulgaria and Romania, and even the states of the former Yugoslavia and Albania (Okólski 2004; Castles, Miller 2003). This extensive list includes both the countries whose accession to the European Union took place between 2004-2012 (the Visegrád Group countries, the Baltic states, Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia), as well as the remaining countries of the region. The EU enlargement created a considerable difference between the status of the countries which became member states of the EU and the other states of the region and influenced the migration processes within and from the region. The diversity and specific character of migration phenomena and problems of Central and Eastern Europe are presented in the 2nd issue of our journal. This issue particularly concentrates on Poland as the main sending and one of the major receiving countries. The texts collected in this volume are especially related to the following three topics which are of critical importance to Poland: 1) the characteristics of numerous Polish diasporas which are rooted in many Western countries and which form a context for new Polish migrants, 2) return migration during the transition period and after the EU enlargement and its significance for the Polish state, 3) the features of immigration and specificity of immigrant adaptation in Poland. %B Central and Eastern European Migration Review %V 2 %P 5-11 %G eng %N 1 %1 11 %& 5