Illustrative stock photo (source: Unsplash)
The number of foreigners living in Slovakia is rising and municipalities are usually little prepared to work with them and help them integrate - despite the fact that they are the ones best positioned to do so.
But local authorities often do not have information about foreigners living in Slovakia and struggle to offer their residents the information they need to integrate. The city of Nitra stands out as a positive example with the centre it established for foreigners to turn to with their questions or concerns.
Jana Kadlečíková, sociologist and researcher of the Centre for the Research of Ethnicity and Culture (CVEK) think tank, cited their research that has shown that integration happens at the local level of the specific town or village.
With the approaching municipal and regional elections, in which foreigners with permanent residence are also allowed to run and vote, the communication of municipalities towards foreigners becomes particularly important.
Four times more foreigners than a decade ago
The results of the 2021 census have shown an increase in the number and share of foreigners with permanent residence in Slovakia. The most significant increase was recorded in the Bratislava Region, where the number of foreigners with permanent residence increased from 5,264 in 2011 to 19,569 in 2021.
The official data from the immigration office, the Foreigners' Police, showed that there were more than 82,000 foreigners with permanent residence living in Slovakia at the end of 2021.
In total, 3.9 percent of the population (213,550) was born outside Slovakia, the Statistics Office reported.
Municipalities could do more
At present, many foreigners-related competencies are fragmented between state administration and other institutions. As a result, foreigners often have to undergo a lengthy bureaucratic process involving various permits at various offices, the sociologist said.
There is a need for one stakeholder at the local level who would integrate information and services for foreigners, or at least summarise the information and provide it to foreigners in Slovak as well as other languages.
“Municipalities could play this role very well, given their broadly defined competencies, either alone or in cooperation with other stakeholders, such as NGOs,” Kadlečíková told The Slovak Spectator
