International migration to an economically lagging EU region: case study of Ukraine and Eastern Slovakia

Abstract

The research on international migration is usually focused on the most attractive destinations of migrations or areas of origin of migration flows suffering from considerable migration loss. This paper analyses the development and spatial patterns of migration from Ukraine to Slovakia with a special emphasis on Eastern Slovakia, which is employed as a case study of an economically lagging region with significant migration loss. The paper aims to assess if such a lagging region can be an attractive destination for migration from Ukraine, and to what extent migration flows from Ukraine can compensate for its migration loss. By using methods of a statistical analysis based on data from various national and international authorities, field research, and semi-structured interviews, the paper contributes to filling the gap in the research of international migration. Despite the economic lagging behind the western regions, Eastern Slovakia has attracted the majority of migrants from Ukraine to Slovakia. Because the structure of migrants from Ukraine is dominated by well-educated and skilled individuals, who are also culturally close to the domestic population and at the same time well adaptable to a host society, such migration flows are not enough to compensate the massive migration loss of Eastern Slovakia fully but can mitigate its negative consequences including loss of human capital.