Fewer and fewer Slovaks want to be neighbours to people of different race, nationality, religion, indicates the European Values Study research (EVS 2017). As scientists from the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV) informed, Roma are undesirable neighbours for 62% of respondents, Muslims for 54%, immigrants or foreign workers for 43% and homosexuals for 37%. This research is conducted every nine years and in 2008, the numbers were significantly lower. At that time, for example, only 21% of people did not want to be neighbours to Muslims. According to Marianna Mrva of the SAV, the increase is caused by the anti-immigration rhetoric of the majority of politicians. According to her, it caused people to be afraid of the unknown and the current setup of the political climate deepens these feelings.
The SAV conducted the research in cooperation with the Kandar TNS agency. As many as 1,435 respondents were involved between September 27th and November 30th this year. The European Values Study is the oldest comparative research in Europe. In Slovakia, it has been carried out since 1991.
