The government of Slovakia has officially acknowledged the Vietnamese community as the country’s 14th national group, thus approving regulations in order to address the needs and concerns of this community.
Through a statement of the European Commission, it was emphasised that the recognition came following recommendations from the Slovakia Government for the Council for Human Rights, National Minorities as well as Gender Equality, based on expert opinion from the Institute of Ethnology and Social Anthropology of Slovakia’s Academy of Sciences, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
“This development is essential to the recognition and visibility of the Vietnamese community in Slovak society, and to the support and protection of their rights, including through offering greater support for the promotion of Vietnamese culture and language from the Fund for the Support of the Culture of National Minorities,” the statement reads.
The same emphasised that the symbolic importance of this recognition by the government also shows reveals to the wider public the importance of respecting the Vietnamese community as well as culture.
“The Vietnamese community – which comprises almost 3,000 people, according to the national census of 2021 – has been present in Slovakia for more than 70 years and is integrated well. Third-generation young people from this community speak Slovak fluently, are successful in their professional fields, and contribute to the prosperity of Slovakia,” the statement reads.
During the Vietnam Day held in Slovakia last year by the Vietnamese Embassy as well as the Vietnamese Association in the Central European country in Bratislava, the government of Slovakia revealed that it would recognise the Vietnamese community as a minority group.
Slovakia’s President of the Vietnamese Association, Vo Phuong, expressed his hopes to develop this community in Slovakia and also make more contributions to tighten connections between both countries.
During the event, the Vietnamese Ambassador to Slovakia, Nguyen Tuan, valued the role of the Vietnamese Association in Slovakia, welcoming the expansion of the Vietnamese community in Slovakia.
Vietnamese citizens’ interest in travelling to Slovakia for tourism purposes or even acquiring citizenship has marked increase recently.
In order to get more information about Slovakia’s visa application procedure and also acquire citizenship in this country, citizens of Vietnam are eligible to head to Slovakia’s Embassy located in Ha Noi, Vietnam.
The Embassy gives them information regarding requirements and the process of acquiring Slovak Citizenship and the visa application process, among others.