a military and non-military character. Conflicts of this kind could, under certain conditions in a radically changing security environment, escalate into regional proportions. Negative phenomena connected with migration processes pose specific security problems in the above context. One of the consequences of the worsening security situation in areas south of the Slovak Republic may be a heightened migration wave from the southern migration route (so called Libyan Road). Military and non-military, symmetric and asymmetric security threats 65) The security environment of the Slovak Republic will in the longterm be influenced by global military and non-military, symmetric and asymmetric security threats, such as: • terrorism and organised transnational terrorism, • cybernetic attacks, • exertion of informational and psychological influence on the populace and hybrid warfare, • use of weapons of mass destruction, • illegal possession and spread of weapons of mass destruction, their delivery systems and their manufacturing technology, • rise of asymmetric conflicts (local and regional conflicts of a military or non-military character), • organised transnational crime allied with illegal arms and materiel trafficking, production and sale of drugs and active participation in illegal migration, • rise of religious, left-wing and right-wing extremism, • uncontrollable migration, • deepening of differences between poor and wealthy states and restrictions on access to natural resources, water and economic products, • shrinking of strategic sources of raw materials and food, • persistence of the current crisis, or the crisis of the financial, or perhaps of the monetary and economic systems. 66) The external security environment of the Slovak Republic will be specifically influenced more by non-military and asymmetric threats than those of a military and symmetric character. In the long-term perspective we may assume these will increase, their spectrum will broaden and their destructive power will be enhanced. It is impossible to dismiss the scenario that some of them may progressively escalate into threats of a military character. 36 WHITE PAPER ON DEFENCE