Vietnamese people in Slovakia celebrate Lunar New Year festival. (Photo: VNA) Prague (VNA) – The Slovak Government onJune 7 officially recognised the Vietnamese community as the country’s 14thethnic minority group and approved regulations for the community.
The decision was made on the basis of therecommendations of the Slovak Government council on human rights, ethnicminorities, and gender equality, and experts. Accordingly, the Vietnamese communityfully meets the criteria "in quantity", "has lived in Slovakiafor nearly 70 years and the 3rd generation has fully integrated intosociety".
Following the Government’s resolution, the Vietnamesecommunity will have representatives at the Committee on Ethnic Minorities andEthnic Groups under the Council of the Government of the Slovak Republic forHuman Rights, Ethnic Minorities, and Gender Equality. The communitywill be supported with financial resources from the Fund for Cultural Supportof Ethnic Minorities and have the right to voice opinions about the fund.
The Vietnamese Association in Slovakia sees the SlovakGovernment’s recognition as an opportunity to bring more benefits to theVietnamese community.
It is estimated that about 7,000 Vietnamese-origin peopleare living and studying in Slovakia. The last time the country with apopulation of 5.5 million people recognised a community as an ethnic minoritywas 13 years ago for the Serbian community./.
