Beyond borders and difference: highly skilled Slovak migration to Czechia

This paper investigates the migration of highly skilled slovak professionals to czechia, an understudied form of intra-regional mobility within central europe. In contrast to migration research that prioritises long-distance or global movements, this study examines mobility between two culturally, linguistically, and historically proximate societies. Situating slovak mobility within a post-czechoslovak and central european context, the analysis draws on demographic and educational data as well as semi-structured interviews with highly skilled slovaks living and working in czechia. The findings demonstrate that this migration flow is shaped by both proximity and persistent boundaries. Shared language and cultural familiarity significantly ease mobility, integration, and labour market entry. Yet slovak identity continues to function as a marker of symbolic difference, producing moments of perceived foreignness in professional and social interactions. While many slovaks do not self-identify as migrants, subtle forms of czech centrism and hierarchical representations contribute to differentiated experiences of belonging. By foregrounding an intra-regional mobility often presumed to be socially and politically neutral, the paper challenges dominant assumptions in migration studies and political science. It shows how processes of migratisation operate even within highly similar societies and argues that identity, symbolic hierarchies, and centre–periphery dynamics remain salient in shaping mobility and belonging in the czech–slovak context.