BRATISLAVA, August 31, (WEBNOVINY) — Interior Minister Daniel Lipsic (KDH) plans to attract qualified workers to Slovakia from abroad because the country needs them. He, however, expects immigrants to fully integrate here, which also includes speaking Slovak. “The project of multiculturalism has failed (…) The condition of immigration must be full integration and acceptance of the culture and traditions of Slovakia,” he said after the Wednesday meeting of the Slovak Cabinet, which approved the draft immigration policy with outlook to 2020.
“We welcome legal immigration but we will change neither our habits nor our values and traditions and we expect immigrants to respect them,” he said, emphasizing that he perceives immigrants as guests. “However, they have to behave as guests,” he remarked, adding that if they do not accept the values of the hosting country, they have to turn somewhere else.
Lipsic hopes that Slovakia can avoid problems caused by immigrants of second or third generation in some European countries. “These have arisen because the first generation was not fully integrated into the society. We want to prevent that,” he said. The Interior Ministry finds it unacceptable for immigrants to create their own parallel communities with alternative rules. “We have enough segregated settlements and we do not need to create new segregated communities,” he said. Isolated communities of immigrants represent a threat to Slovakia, believes the minister. “It is a security risk that the government will not allow,” he stated.
In the future, Immigration and Naturalization Authority should oversee the integration of immigrants. It will take over some powers of the Foreign Police. Lipsic can imagine attracting qualified workers to Slovakia via information centers in selected countries. After the approval of the immigration policy, Lipsic announced elaboration of so-called action plans by individual departments. He underscored that the role of the Labor Ministry will be of core importance, as it will pinpoint professions and qualifications that the Slovak labor market is lacking and that could lure further investors to the country, who would subsequently create more jobs.
SITA