Survey: Slovaks feel refugee aid should be given only in urgent cases

Europeans should extend aid to refugees already located in Europe only in the most urgent cases, think the majority of Slovaks (52.5 percent) asked in a survey carried out by TNS Slovakia on behalf of the Department of Sociology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV) from September 11 to October 29. Europeans should provide aid to refugees to a limited degree according to 24.6 percent of respondents, whereas 18.7 percent recommend not giving any help to refugees at all, 1.1 percent is in favour of significant aid and 3.1 percent were undecided. People continue to harbour concerns about the arrival of refugees. A total of 41.4 percent is only mildly concerned, 29.6 percent is quite concerned and 18.1 percent is extremely worried. Not concerned whatsoever is 8.2 percent and 2.9 percent were undecided. Among the most frequently cited concerns are that refugees would cause the rise in crime rate (36.6 percent) and that the majority of them wouldn't be willing to embrace domestic norms and way of life (30.6 percent). Almost 30 percent of respondent fear that the arrival of refugees would lead to increased danger of attacks by Islamist extremists and that their sheltering would pose too costly a burden.