The Foreigner's Guide to Living in Slovakia

I’m often asked this question:

I’m thinking about spending an extended period of time in Slovakia and am curious about discrimination because I’m not of European descent. Will I have a difficult time integrating and do I need to be concerned about racially motivated crimes?

First I’d like to preface my answer to say that I am of Hispanic descent and never have had any racial issues living or working in Slovakia or Austria.

Now for my answer – Racial discrimination may or may not be a problem. I know that doesn’t help much, but I’ll explain.

First, in Slovakia, discrimination may depend where you live. Bratislava is the most cosmopolitan city in the country and is also the capital. The city probably has more foreigners there than any other place in the country. Discrimination would be less of an issue there but it does happen. How often? Not very. I read about an incident maybe once a year. A few minority groups live in Bratislava, for example, there is a small Asian community, mainly Vietnamese. I heard that they came over in the 1970s during a communist work-exchange program. Many work in the open markets selling cheap-made clothing and goods. For the most part they don’t seem to integrate into Slovak society but I haven’t heard of any incidents of them being targeted for racial attacks.

I lived in a small town in western-central Slovakia and that was a different experience, perhaps because I don’t look Slovak. In my small town where everyone knows everyone else’s business within one week’s time, news got around fast that I was a foreigner and an American. That was good, I suppose, because foreigners are an oddity in a small town and so I was something of a wonder. That being said, I never had any problems with anyone.

In March of this year, a serious incident happened in the eastern town of Košice where a black American woman was chased, verbally abused, and almost physically attacked. She was helped in time but the incident was really another wake-up call that violent attacks still happen to foreigners, especially to dark-skinned foreigners. This is not specific to Slovakia. From what I have noticed, darker-skinned people are more likely to experience discrimination in many places around the world, the US and western Europe included.

There have been several incidents of vandalism and defacing of Jewish monuments with Nazi symbols and racist terms. Unfortunately this too is a problem across Europe. However, I haven’t heard of any cases recently (or ever), in modern times, of Jewish people being attacked in Slovakia.

I mentioned above that as a Hispanic I’ve never had an issue with discrimination. I do believe, however, that nationality can play a role in this. In Austria I have experienced deferential treatment because I carried a US passport in comparison to a friend of mine who was Bulgarian and treated poorly. The funny thing was that she spoke perfect German whereas I speak very little. I didn’t experience this phenomenon in Slovakia. It’s difficult to come to conclusions about discrimination because many factors can play a part.

Though discrimination exists, I hope that foreigners are not discouraged from traveling, living, or working in Slovakia. Overwhelmingly, Slovaks are willing to give anyone a fair chance. They are also curious about foreigners and often enthusiastic about what knowledge and opportunities foreigners can bring to their country.