The Role of the Migration Crisis in Contemporary Slovak Politics (2016–2018)

Abstract

The migration crisis had a significant impact on the EU countries, and Slovakia is no exception. By a closer look at the Slovak documentary base, this field could be divided into several segments of its influence: foreign policy, internal security, macroeconomic policy, and internal political struggle. This whole complex of sources is forming a single line of conduct of the Slovak executive power in the field of the migration policy in Slovakia, which, however, has a number of negative features and quite a lot of opponents. As the rule, these opponents are from the oppositional parliamentary fractions and its deputies. Based on the analysis of the governmental documents, the article for the first time is considering the whole complex of problems related to migration, both in the area of the foreign policy and its influence on the internal sphere. In contrast to the Slovak experts (S. Goda, D. Fisher), proceeding from what Slovak security and defense should look like, the author analyzes the actual prerequisites of internal measures in this area and their consequences in the Slovak political discourse. This approach lets the author to conclude that there are some difficulties in the implementation of the migration policy in Slovakia, related to the use of Western conception of the causes and consequences of the conflicts in Ukraine and Syria, which would not completely solve the problems this country is facing.