Assessment of the Immigrants Integration Level in the New Member States of the EU in 2009–2018

Since the immigration wave in 2015, integration policies have been a broadly discussed topic. Although immigration itself can be potentially beneficial for the host country (social diversity, new labor force), these benefits are conditioned by successful integration process. This paper examines the level of immigrant integration in the New Member States of the EU in period 2009 to 2018 (Czechia, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Malta, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia). The paper uses five indicators for evaluation (activity rate, risk of poverty, tertiary education attainment, overcrowding rate, and health status). The results show overall high level of immigrant integration in the selected countries, especially in Hungary and Malta. The worst level of immigrant integration was assessed in Slovenia and Latvia. Integration into the healthcare system was found as the key problematic area of integration process. The level of immigrant integration from the third countries was relatively worse than the level of integration of immigrants born in the other EU28 country except for the reporting country. Furthermore, the results showed a huge heterogeneity in the degree of immigrant integration across selected countries.