Mobility, Migration and the COVID-19 Epidemic: Managing an Emergency in Lithuania and Poland

Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, most governments, including Lithuania and Poland, introduced strict ones emergency measures to contain the spread of SARS-CoV-2 virus. Poland was one of the first in the European Union to introduce 'lockdown' and closed its borders and applied other emergency measures. The Baltic states, including Lithuania, have introduced more restrictive regulations than, for example, Italy and France in the same phase of the pandemic, but later created a "travel bubble" enabling mobility in the Baltic region. Both Poland, as well as the V4 countries, as well as Lithuania and the Baltic states, are presented quite well dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, mainly due to its rapid introduction restrictive measures. The proposed research project aims to study the forms mobility management (including international migration) in Poland and Lithuania during COVID-19 pandemic. Its purpose is to investigate what forms of mobility management have emerged as a result of the country's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Research will help answer two main research questions: (1) How have both countries managed mobility in the situation state of emergency? (2) What were the main similarities and differences in state politics emergency of both states in a state of emergency, as well as their deeper background socio-political (including shock resistance)? The relative success of Poland i Lithuania's ability to contain the spread of SARS-CoV-2 can be explained by them adaptability and resistance to extreme shock and danger, entrenched in the experiences of many past atrocities, such as war, hunger, and occupation outside. At the same time, Poland and Lithuania inherited many institutional structures after 1989 resources for epidemiological population control and mobility control practices, while on a social level many people could refer to their pasts social experiences related to informal norms, which enabled them to make decisions, which principles of government should be taken seriously and which can be ignored. Maybe that also explain large fluctuations in national mobility laws, often contradictory nature.