Abstract
The issue of international migration in Slovakia was not a topic of public discussion until 2015. A major change in migration discourse can be observed only after the mass migratory processes in 2015, a few weeks before the Slovak parliamentary elections. Just before the elections, politicians had also noticed these processes, putting the spotlight on migration, which became a frequent priority topic of electoral campaigns for several weeks. Our aim with this paper is to answer a question of how Slovak politicians, who had ignored this topic for many years, dealt with the issue of international migration since 2015 and which aspect dominated the emerging migration discourse. We came to the conclusion that Slovak politicians tackled the issue almost uniformly, regardless of their ideological beliefs or coalition-opposition framework. Most politicians presented migration as a threat. In addition to the securitization of migration discourse, we also observe a gradual shift in the understanding of the term migrant. Until 2015, the naming of the particular actor of migration processes was generally understood to be neutral, yet since 2015 the term has acquired a strong negative connotation.
Highlights
Until 1989, the Slovak Republic was considered a typical country of emigration
Van Dijk argues that politicians, and non-political actors can be included in the category of the political discourse actors [van Dijk, 1997], we, primarily focus on the holders of political functions
Based on the analysed texts, we state that Slovak politicians are willing to agree on international migration, regardless of their party affiliation, ideological inclination, or whether they belong to coalition or opposition
Summary
Until 1989, the Slovak Republic was considered a typical country of emigration. After the political and economic transformation in 1989, migration flows gradually began to change, but emigration still dominated. During this period, Slovakia did not yet provide enough push factors. The gradual change did not occur until the accession of the Slovak Republic to the European Union in May 2004. With its right-wing parties at the head of the government, has undergone deep economic reforms, which generated economic growth or demand for labour. The economic reforms have contributed to the growing number of economic migrants. At the end of 2020, 150,012 foreigners with a residence permit were registered in Slovakia, which represents less than 2.8 percent of the overall population
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