On 27 June the municipality of Nitra - in collaboration with the Centre for the Research of Ethnicity and Culture and UNICEF Slovensko - adopted the Strategy for the integration of foreigners (including refugees and temporary protection holders) in the city of Nitra to 2035. 

Since the start of Russia's ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine, Slovakia has experienced an unprecedented number of new arrivals displaced from Ukraine. More than 120 000 people have applied for temporary protection so far, leading to significant pressure on public authorities to adopt various local integration measures. These include, for example, the development of strategic documents for integration at the local level.

Nitra's  strategy outlines the importance of integration measures in the city, the benefits brought by the migrant population, an analysis of the migrant and refugee population itself, and priorities in coordination and integration, data collection and analysis, and capacity building. It also defines key thematic and target group focuses, such as children and youth, social support, education, employment, housing, and community activities. Find the full strategy in Slovak here.

The municipality of Nitra is only the second local authority in Slovakia to adopt such a strategy. It serves as a good practice example that will likely be followed by other public authorities soon.