by Martina Šimkovičová
Explaining Ukrainians to Slovaks
On 24 February 2022, news all over the world informed that Russian President Putin invaded Ukraine in what he called „a special military operation“. As soon as the conflict broke out, even more after missiles started destroying Ukrainian cities across the country, millions of people set on their journey leaving Ukraine by any means possible. Slovakia, neighbouring Ukraine in the east, experienced the most massive wave of immigration in its history. Despite the fact that the Slovak/Ukrainian border is only 98 kilometres long, almost 1.2 million border crossings to Slovakia were recorded from 24th February 2022 to 21st February 2023, according to the data of the office of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. According to the same data, the number of refugees registered for temporary protection in Slovakia is about 109 thousand.
Former members of Radio Slovakia International English section team produce one of the first narrative podcast series in this country. Its title “Novi susedia” or “New neighbourghs” when translated has the ambition to present Ukrainians to Slovaks.
https://enrsi.rtvs.sk/articles/Culture/318246/explaining-ukrainians-to-slovaks
