Securitization of Migration After Russia's Military Invasion of Ukraine

This paper aims to explain how the Slovak public perceived migrants coming to Slovakia from Ukraine after the outbreak of the war. Like other countries neighbouring Ukraine, Slovak state institutions have had to deal with issues related to the migration of Ukrainian refugees. In addition to spontaneous aid, negative attitudes towards refugees have also appeared in the public debate since the beginning of the war. Using the method of discourse analysis, this paper examines the formation of opinions on Ukrainian refugees in Slovakia since February 24, 2022. This paper confirms that, as in 2015 and 2016, during the debate on the migration situation, opinions about refugees as a potential threat to the domestic population continued to emerge. These negative messages were mainly presented by representatives of the far right and far left, who are usually characterised by a positive attitude towards Russia and a negative attitude towards the US.