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Slovakia has initiated a pilot scheme to help its unemployed immigrate to neighboring countries. The Jobs Abroad scheme means any Slovak on unemployment for more than three months can ask for a ticket to another EU country.
Applicants have to convince officials that they have the chance of a job to get a full refund. Nearly one in five Slovakians — 17.5 per cent — are out of work in a population of 5.4 million — the second highest rate in the EU after Poland. The average wage is £136 a month.
Officials are helping more than 4,000 long-term unemployed move to neighbouring EU countries, paying for a one-way ticket, in a controversial pilot scheme. A spokesman for the Slovakian Employment Ministry said: "If it's a success, we will extend it to other countries further afield, such as the United Kingdom."
Sir Andrew Green, of think tank Migrationwatch UK, said of the programme: "This is amazing. It looks as though one new member of the EU is planning to unload its unemployed on other members. It is only a matter of time before it affects Britain, as we are the only major country that has opened its labour market to citizens of EU members."
In the first phase, tickets are being handed out to nearby countries such as Austria, Hungary and the Czech Republic. Slovakia says the move is in response to requests for labour from foreign firms desperate to fill jobs.
Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda said: "Without internal competition the Union will be unable to compete with countries outside the bloc."
