Slovakia Issues - 2023

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Disputes - international

Slovakia-Austria: none identified

Slovakia-Czechia: none identified

Slovakia-Hungary: initiated by the 1977 Budapest Treaty, Hungary and formerly Czechoslovakia agreed to a hydroelectric dam project on the Danube with dams to be constructed at Gabcikovo (Slovakia) and Nagymaros (Hungary) to prevent floods, improve river navigability, and to generate electricity; when Hungary suspended work on the project until its environmental impact could be assessed, Slovakia continued working on it and adopted a pared down strategy to divert the Danube so that all construction was within Czechoslovakian territory; Hungary terminated the project on environmental and economic grounds in 1989, and in 1992 both countries took the matter to the International Court of Justice (ICJ); the ICJ found largely in favor of then Slovakia, finding Hungary had breached their agreement; however, then Czechoslovakia should not have begun the alternative plan before the ICJ ruled on the case; in 2017, Hungary and Slovakia agreed to discontinue the ICJ proceedings

Slovakia-Poland: none identified

Slovakia-Ukraine: tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees are crossing the border to Slovakia to escape the Russian invasion in their country

Refugees and internally displaced persons

refugees (country of origin): 119,505 (Ukraine) (as of 2 July 2023)

stateless persons: 2,940 (2022)

Illicit drugs

transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin bound for Western Europe; producer of synthetic drugs for regional market; consumer of MDMA (ecstasy)

NOTE: The information regarding Slovakia on this page is re-published from the 2023 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Slovakia 2023 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Slovakia 2023 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.