Statement of the Civic Association Vietnamese Roots on the Slovak–Vietnam Business Forum 2026

Bilateral relations make sense when their results are reflected in the lives of the people who live here. 

The Slovak–Vietnam Business Forum 2026 confirmed the interest of both sides in long-term cooperation and resulted in elevating Slovak–Vietnamese relations to a strategic partnership.¹ We appreciate that, in this context, recognition was also given to the contribution of the Vietnamese community in Slovakia. Over the past decades, the Vietnamese community in Slovakia has built a stable place in society as well as in the labour market, which led to its official recognition as a national minority in 2023. 


At the same time, we allow ourselves to name what often gets lost in diplomatic rhetoric: recognition is not enough if it is not followed by concrete tools. In matters of migration, it is important to emphasize the need for a systematic and balanced approach. 


The number of foreigners in Slovakia has increased by almost 300% over the past ten years.² The integration system is not keeping pace with this growth; expert analyses describe it as insufficiently developed and lacking a comprehensive and systematic framework.³ Third-country nationals face a lack of clear and up-to-date information regarding residence, employment, education, and social services. Children enter schools without language support. Families rely on informal networks and intermediaries, which creates inequality in access to services.⁴


This is happening in an environment where strong negative attitudes toward foreigners persist. According to data from the European Social Survey (2022), Slovakia and the Czech Republic are among the countries with the most negative attitudes toward migrants in the entire EU.⁵ Research by the Milan Šimečka Foundation from 2022 showed that 63.5% of respondents perceive foreigners living in Slovakia as a burden.⁶ At the same time, CVEK and MIPEX point out that the current setup of integration policy itself reinforces these stereotypes and actively diverts public perception away from viewing migrants as potential fellow citizens.⁷ 


Yet the data is clear: migrants do not replace the Slovak labour market—they keep it running. In mid-2025, nearly 127,000 foreign workers were employed in Slovakia, and even this dynamic growth was not enough to fill all vacancies.⁸ Communities with Vietnamese roots have been part of this reality for decades: permanently settled, economically active, and contributing through taxes. The gap between economic reality and social perception is not accidental; it is the result of the absence of an integration policy that would present migration as something other than a problem.


We do not wait for change. We create it ourselves. In September 2025, we launched a pilot adaptation class in cooperation with the Ministry of Education of the Slovak Republic and partners.⁹ This is the first concrete proof that targeted support works and that its absence has measurable consequences. At the same time, we have submitted a project application for a migrant integration platform. Its aim is to create a publicly accessible information tool on the functioning of public services in community languages, including Vietnamese. 


Bilateral relations make sense when their outcomes are reflected in the lives of people who live here. This requires funded language courses, teaching assistants, coordination between schools and municipalities, and a long-term integration policy—not a project-based logic dependent on grant cycles. 


n conclusion, we would like to name what we consider a structural problem: integration in Slovakia functions only to the extent that civil society keeps it alive. Civic associations such as Mareena, the Human Rights League, IOM, and other organisations have long been substituting for a role that belongs to the state. This situation is unsustainable in the long term, and diplomatic partnerships without systemic change will remain only on paper. 


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Poznámky: 

¹ Vietnam and Slovakia elevated their mutual relations to a strategic partnership during the official visit of the Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic, Robert Fico, to Vietnam on 13 April 2026. Source: VnEconomy, 13 April 2026.

² MIGRA — project application of the Civic Association Vietnamese Roots, 2026; based on data from the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic and IOM Slovakia. 

³ IOM Slovakia / MIGRA project documentation: “The migrant integration system in Slovakia remains insufficiently developed and lacks a comprehensive and systematic framework.”

⁴ CVEK: Slovakia and Migration. Searching for Paths to Coexistence (2022); IOM Slovakia, research on migrant experiences.

⁵ Findor et al.: Attitudes toward Migration: From Prejudice to Populism (2023), based on data from the European Social Survey, Round 10 (ESS ERIC, 2022). 

⁶ Milan Šimečka Foundation / Focus: public opinion survey on migration, June 2022, n = 1,005. 

⁷ CVEK / MIPEX: “We Don’t Want Strangers” (2021); Bargerová, Z.: Slovak approach to integration as “equality on paper.” 

⁸ Gábriš, M. (ČSOB): labour market commentary, July 2025. Source: Index SME, 24 July 2025. 

⁹ https://www.minedu.sk/adaptacne-triedy-pomozu-detom-ktore-neovladaju-slovensky-jazyk/