Instruments of migration policy: A case of the Slovak Republic

Abstract

Unpredictability of the migration movements; efforts to protect the state’s territory from irregular and illegal activities; as well as tendency to fill in the gaps on the labour market in the receiving countries are only few out of many preconditions which stimulate attempts of the nation states to coordinate and influence migration on their territories using the instruments of the migration policy. However, the instruments as proposed in the strategic documents do not always meet the practical demands emerging from the migration profile of the particular state, or they are not applied properly – from different reasons. Our paper analyses the cited discrepancy in the Slovak Republic. The main aim is to identify instruments of the Slovak migration policy as presented in the latest strategic documents and compare the theoretical framework with the practical reality. The paper concludes by analysing reasons of existing gaps between the theory and practice in the Slovak settings.