quoted in: Jana Liptáková: Slovakia to issue EU Blue Cards, Career and HR, The Slovak Spectator

“With an aging population and a very low fertility rate, Slovakia has a serious demographic problem,” Martin Kahanec, scientific director of the Central European Labour Studies Institute (CELSI) in Bratislava, told The Slovak Spectator. “The significant shrinkage of its working-age population projected by demographers for the coming decades poses severe risks for its economy, labour market and public finances.” | Kahanec believes that immigration can significantly alleviate these problems, not only directly through the inflow of young and highly-motivated economic migrants but also by creation of new jobs for Slovak citizens. | “In particular, high-skilled immigrants can fill in bottlenecks in the labour market and thereby buttress the economy and increase demand for the domestic labour force,” said Kahanec. | Kahanec added that from the labour market perspective the primary objective of Slovakia’s mi­gration policy should be to facilitate immigration, integration, and naturalisation of skilled migrants, noting that this could include immigration of well-educated workers but also students who come first to study but who could then stay to work.

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