SOLIDARITY VS. SOVEREIGNTY: PERSPECTIVE ON THE SLOVAK FOREIGN POLICY REACTIONS TO THE MIGRATION CRISIS
SOLIDARITY VS. SOVEREIGNTY: PERSPECTIVE ON THE SLOVAK FOREIGN POLICY REACTIONS TO THE MIGRATION CRISIS

Author(s): Barbora Olejárová
Subject(s): Politics, International relations/trade, Policy, planning, forecast and speculation, Migration Studies, EU-Legislation
Published by: Transnational Press London
Keywords: migration; asylum seekers; crisis; Slovakia; foreign policy; solidarity; sovereignty;
Summary/Abstract: Migration crisis that hit the European Union in 2015 did not influence the Slovak Republic in terms of numbers of irregular migrants and asylum seekers. Yet, it has become one of the central issues of the Slovak domestic and foreign policy following very negative attitude of the Slovak general public and domestic political elites towards acceptance of asylum seekers and third-countries migrants on the state’s territory. The definite stance of the country was expressed when the state filled an action for annulment to the Court of Justice of the EU (case C-643/15), challenging legality of the Asylum-Seekers Relocation Decision from 22 September 2015. The basic matter of argument was rejection of obligatory quotas as determined by the Council Decision (EU) 2015/1601. Radical position of the Slovak government was – among other factors – influenced by the upcoming parliamentary election that was supposed to take place on 5 March 2016 and by striving of all political parties to gain public votes by promoting general public will of refusing asylum seekers and settlement of the third-countries migrants in the Slovak Republic. However, the domestic opposition towards the common European solution to the crisis based on the quota system got into contradiction with the upcoming role of Slovakia as the country presiding over the Council of the European Union in the second half of 2016. As the presiding country, Slovakia was expected to take over the role of a mediator among the other EU Member States in all areas, including migration.

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