A new study highlights that while Slovakia is seen as a safe and welcoming country by many foreign nationals from African countries, challenges related to bureaucracy, language and access to essential services continue to hinder full integration.
Slovakia is increasingly becoming a destination country, not just a transit point. More people from outside the European Union are choosing to settle, study, and work in Slovakia. This trend is reflected in research conducted by the Institute for Forecasting of the Centre of Social and Psychological Sciences of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV) in cooperation with the Mareena civic association.
The findings were presented at the joint event called Experiences of Migrants from Third Countries in Accessing Social Rights: Challenges of Cross-Sectoral Cooperation in Integration, held on 13 November 2025 at the Old Lyceum in Bratislava.
Key findings of the research
- Over two-thirds of African nationals in Slovakia hold university degrees; most arrived for study or work.
- Respondents view Slovakia as safe and economically stable, with good quality of life and educational opportunities.
- Major barriers to integration include a lack of Slovak language instruction, limited access to healthcare and housing, and burdensome administrative processes for residence, study, business and employment permits.
- With improved access to social rights, this highly educated group could make a valuable contribution to Slovakia’s social and economic development.
'Slovakia is undergoing a migration shift: from a country with a negative migration balance, it is becoming one with a rapidly growing inflow of immigrants, increasingly coming from third countries outside Europe,' said Lucia Mýtna Kureková of the Institute of Forecasting of the Slovak Academy of Sciences. 'Ensuring access to social rights, such as healthcare, education, housing and essential services, is a crucial pillar of effective integration policy,' she added.
The study focuses on the lived experiences of African nationals in Slovakia. Most participants hold university degrees and arrived for educational or professional reasons. They describe Slovakia as a safe country with good opportunities for study and employment, and they value the overall quality of life. However, they also report significant obstacles to integration, including a lack of Slovak language courses, complex administrative procedures, and limited access to healthcare. Research has shown that the quality and availability of integration services are an important factor in migrants' decisions about whether to remain in the country.
'People who decide to live in Slovakia want to contribute and be part of society. But without systemic support, it is not possible,' says Marta Králiková, Project Development Manager at Mareena. 'In Slovakia, we are gradually moving toward developing a long-term integration vision in which foreigners will feel accepted and included.'
The event, organized by Mareena and the Institute for Forecasting of SAS, brought together experts from public institutions, municipalities, academia, the non-profit and private sectors, as well as representatives of African communities. The discussions generated proposals on how to improve and more effectively connect policies that influence the lives of people from third country-nationals: from language education to labour market access.
'This research is very important for us. It is also a way to communicate our challenges to the government and highlight what works and what does not in integration,' said one participant of Nigerian origin.
The research is part of the international project PACES – Making Migration and Migration Policy Decisions Amidst Societal Transformations, implemented under the Horizon Europe programme. The project examines migration decision-making processes and their relationship to migration policies in Europe.
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