Summary: Bratislava between Moscow, Brussels, and Washington
Periods of Slovakia’s Foreign and Security Policy since 1993
Rastislav Báchora
Analyzing the development of Slovakia’s security policy since the foundation of the Slovak Republic (SR) in 1993, one can discern three distinctly different development phases: the period of East-orientation which lasted until 1998, the Euro-Atlantic period until 2002, and the still ongoing neo-Atlantic period.
The period of East-orientation that set in after the separation from Prague was dominated by the perception of a geopolitical "shift to the East” and stepped up economic cooperation with the Russian Federation (RF), in order to sustain domestic weapons production and exports.
Slovakia thus became a preferred customer under the "Kozyrew Doctrine”, named after the Russian Foreign Minister at the time, who wanted to curb mounting Western influence in East-Central European states.
This security-political orientation was in stark contrast to the government program of Slovakia’s three-party coalition under Meciar, which had declared West-orientation and NATO membership important security-political goals. This double-strategy was confirmed after the failed NATO referendum in 1997 that clearly revealed that Slovakia’s foreign and security policy was East-oriented.
After the Madrid Summit in July 1997, that had apparently excluded Slovakia from the security-political integration process for an indefinite period of time, the Slovakian government started to search for a long-term alternative to its security policy. The most significant change was that an open discussion about a possible neutrality status got underway, which was greatly welcomed by Russia, since it deepened Slovak-Russian security-political cooperation.
At the end of September 1998 parliamentary elections took place in Bratislava, that were indicative of Slovakia’s future developments. Although Meciar’s party emerged as the strongest political power, he failed to find a coalition partner for a stable government. Therefore, the first official actions of the coalition government formed under Dzurinda focused on removing democratic shortfalls and establishing official contacts with NATO and US representatives, aiming at a possible NATO accession.
NATO’s air strikes against Yugoslavia finalized the change in Slovakia’s security policy, which was demonstrated by Slovakia making its air space available to NATO on the first day of the conflict. This intensive approach to NATO marked the onset of Slovakia’s Euro-Atlantic phase of orientation, which found its continuation in 2002/2001. All further, and eventually successful, efforts focused on being invited to concrete accession negotiations by NATO at the 2002 Prague Summit.
When it became obvious that Slovakia’s EU membership would only be possible via a NATO membership, even the strongest political power in Slovakia’s National Council, the former government party under Meciar, vehemently pleaded for an accession to NATO. A massive propaganda campaign convinced the majority of the people of the advantages of joining NATO. The approval rate was, however, cut back to one third when the Iraq War started. In order to prevent a negative outcome of a petition, which would have made a referendum on a NATO accession binding, the government parties, in April 2003, had the accession protocols ratified in parliament by a majority.
During the Iraq conflict the Slovakian leadership suspended its Euro-Atlantic line in favour of a one-sided US-orientation, which initiated its neo-Atlantic security-political orientation phase. Not only did Slovakia support the USA in the Iraq campaign without reservations, it also stood up for Washington’s ideas of shaping European security policy, by rejecting the creation of European defence structures separate from NATO and therewith from the US. Whether or when Slovakia’s security policy course will turn in favour of the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) will largely depend on the outcome of the next elections.
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