Number of Slovaks living abroad declining

The number of people living abroad and claiming Slovak nationality is in decline, and there's a need to find out the reasons and implement measures required to reverse this trend, said Office for Slovaks Living Abroad head Ján Varšo in a speech to mark the Day of Slovaks Living Abroad in Bratislava on Tuesday. Chairman of the World Association of Slovaks Living Abroad Vladimír Skalský thinks that one of the main causes of the decline could be unwillingness - particularly among those living in the West - to claim "anything". The dwindling figures might not indicate that the number of Slovak speakers in foreign countries is declining. "Simply put, they report no nationality at all," he said, citing as an example the Czech Republic, where only 200,000 out of the original 400,000 people now claim Slovak nationality. According to estimates, however, the number of Slovaks living in the Czech Republic has actually gone up. Skalský stated that although the Government paid attention to the issue of Slovaks living abroad even in its manifesto, the agenda is limited mostly to declarations without any real measures to follow them up. Skalský pointed out that the volume of resources to fund the activities of Slovaks living abroad has seen cuts.