Yearbook of Slovakia's Foreign Policy 2006 Cover Image

Ročenka zahraničnej politiky Slovenskej republiky 2006
Yearbook of Slovakia's Foreign Policy 2006

Contributor(s): Peter Brezáni (Editor)
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Politics, Social Sciences, Economy, Education, Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, Geography, Regional studies, Supranational / Global Economy, Energy and Environmental Studies, Constitutional Law, International Law, Governance, Sociology, Economic policy, Government/Political systems, International relations/trade, Security and defense, Military policy, Developing nations, State/Government and Education, Evaluation research, Health and medicine and law, EU-Accession / EU-DEvelopment, Ethnic Minorities Studies, EU-Legislation
Published by: Research Center of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association (RC SFPA)
Keywords: Slovakia; 2006; foreign policy; EU; NATO; Visegrad; V4; integration; presidency; Eastern policy; Western Balkans; development assistance; Slovak ODA; Russia; Ukraine;energy;gas;economy;security;defense;UN;Security Council;Hungary;embassy;consulate;
Summary/Abstract: Year 2006 was indeed exceptional for both Slovakia’s foreign policy and the publication itself. In June, after the general elections, the new government was formed. It was the first time since 1998 the complete change of the political power took place at the same time as the change of foreign policy creator took place. It is also the first time the Yearbook of Foreign Policy of the Slovak Republic assesses and reflects Slovak foreign policy issues other than Dzurinda’s government. Nevertheless, the field of foreign policy was perhaps the only one within which continuity was expected. Furthermore, the Government’s Manifesto does not differ that much in terms of values from the previous government’s manifesto and that was further confirmed by the nomination of an experienced diplomat, Ján Kubiš, for the position of foreign minister. However, certain dissonance between the rhetoric and implementation has been provoking the discussion from the very beginning. At the beginning of April 2007, the Research Center of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association (RC SFPA) attempted for the first time to assess the foreign policy direction of Slovakia after the new government came into power. RC SFPA organized its Annual Review Conference on Foreign Policy named Continuities and Changes in Slovakia’s Foreign Policy. The name of the conference itself, somehow stemming from the post-election discourse, caused quite a vivid discussion. However, the individual presenters constantly substituted and by or in the title. This also might have contributed to our decision to continue with the discussion on the pages of Yearbook of Foreign Policy of the Slovak Republic 2006 in broader scope. The book analyzes the 2006 foreign policy within three main fields – EU, security policy, and regional and bilateral agenda. The first part traditionally focuses on Slovakia’s performance in the EU. It opens with the contribution of Erik Láštic from Comenius University’s Faculty of Arts. In his paper, he analyzes the institutional background of Slovakia in the EU. Since this topic was not discussed in previous editions, the text goes beyond the framework of 2006. The article of RC SFPA’s research fellow Aneta Világi reflects the domestic (non)debate on the issue of the Treaty Establishing the Constitution for Europe. The RC SFPA director and head of its Eastern Europe research program Alexander Duleba, based on his analysis of the EU Eastern Policy, recommends the establishment of two-level strategy and bridging ENP with Russia policy. The second part also partially resembles the last year’s structure with its two analyses focusing on the key security policy agendas, i.e. Slovakia’s performance within the UN Security Council and NATO. The former was elaborated by the head of RC SFPA’s International Security research program Ivo Samson. His detailed analysis focuses on the scope of SR’s activities in the UN SC, Slovakia’s participation in creating of resolutions and voting, the presidency itself as well as the key agenda of the security sector reform. The transformation and developments within the NATO are surveyed by Matúš Korba of Center for Security Studies, a Bratislava-based NGO. In his study, included the analysis of Slovakia’s performance in the Alliance, the participation in the crisis management missions or the challenges the SR will face. Unlike previous years, the 2006 Yearbook has a part dealing with regional and bilateral relations, i.e. it focuses on the priorities and tools of Slovakia’s foreign policy. The chapter is opened by the article on Slovak-Hungarian relations which are, according to the author, full of ‘media convenient’ topics. The paper was written by Kálmán Petőcz of Forum Minority Research Institute, a Šamorín-based NGO. Similarly discussed and ‘convenient’ topic was also energy policy and security. Independent analyst, Karel Hirman, focuses his analysis on 2006 Russian-Ukrainian gas dispute, new Russian strategy and its impact on Slovakia. Slovakia’s presidency over the V4 dominated the regional agenda even though the functioning of V4 was to a large extent influenced by the domestic political developments in its member states. This topic was elaborated by Juraj Marušiak of Institute of Political Science of Slovak Academy of Science. Milan Šagát of Bratislava based Pontis Foundation prepared a contribution on a complex and complicated issue of Slovakia’s policy towards the Western Balkans. In his paper, he stresses the fact that the folowing period will be of crucial importance for Slovakia’s policy and that it needs to be more diversified and better-balanced towards the whole region. Three authors Marián Čaučík, Zuzana Krátka and Ľudmila Pastorová focused on the issue of the most important bilateral foreign policy tool of Slovakia in 2006 – the development assistance. Their contribution deals with the activities of Slovak organizations within sectoral and territorial priorities as well as with the institutional and legislative changes of Slovak ODA. Traditionally, the Yearbook includes annexes such as the chronology of the most important events in the Slovak foreign policy in 2006, selected political documents and other information (e.g. the structure and representatives of the MFA SR, a list of diplomatic missions and representatives of SR abroad, the SR diplomatic bodies, army missions abroad etc.). It is up to the reader to decide whether there is continuity or discontinuity in Slovakia’s foreign policy. However, I strongly believe that all texts will contribute to the debate on further direction of Slovakia’s foreign policy and that the publication will find its readers.

  • Print-ISBN-13: 978-80-969186-9-0
  • Page Count: 203
  • Publication Year: 2007
  • Language: Slovak
Predhovor

Predhovor
(Preface)

Slovensko v EÚ

Slovensko v EÚ
(Slovakia in the EU)

Zmluva zakladajúca ústavu pre Európu

Zmluva zakladajúca ústavu pre Európu
(Treaty Establishing Constitution for Europe)

Východná politika Európskej únie: fínske a nemecké predsedníctvo

Východná politika Európskej únie: fínske a nemecké predsedníctvo
(Eastern Policy of the EU under the Presidencies of Finland and Germany: Shifting Agendas and Instruments)

Pôsobenie SR v Bezpečnostnej rade OSN

Pôsobenie SR v Bezpečnostnej rade OSN
(The Performance of the SR in the UN Security Council)

Severoatlantická aliancia a Slovensko

Severoatlantická aliancia a Slovensko
(NATO and Slovakia)

Slovensko-maďarské vzťahy: ako ďalej?

Slovensko-maďarské vzťahy: ako ďalej?
(Slovak-Hungarian Relations: What Next?)

Energetika ako faktor medzinárodnej bezpečnosti

Energetika ako faktor medzinárodnej bezpečnosti
(Energy as the International Security Factor)

Slovenské predsedníctvo – druhý dych Vyšehradu?

Slovenské predsedníctvo – druhý dych Vyšehradu?
(Slovak Presidency – Second Breath of Visegrad?)

Zahraničná politika SR voči západnému Balkánu v roku 2006

Zahraničná politika SR voči západnému Balkánu v roku 2006
(Slovakia’s Foreign Policy Towards The Western Balkans in 2006)

Slovensko a rozvojová pomoc v roku 2006

Slovensko a rozvojová pomoc v roku 2006
(Slovakia and Development Assistance in 2006)

Chronológia dôležitých udalostí v slovenskej zahraničnej politike v roku 2006

Chronológia dôležitých udalostí v slovenskej zahraničnej politike v roku 2006
(Chronology of the Important Foreign Policy Issues in 2006)

Zoznam zmlúv uzavretých Slovenskou republikou v roku 2006

Zoznam zmlúv uzavretých Slovenskou republikou v roku 2006
(List of Treaties Concluded between Slovakia and Other Countries in 2006)

Prehľad vybraných dokumentov so zahranično-politickým dopadom predložených na rokovanie vlády SR v roku 2006

Prehľad vybraných dokumentov so zahranično-politickým dopadom predložených na rokovanie vlády SR v roku 2006
(Selected Documents with Foreign Policy Impact Submitted to Sessions of the SR Government in 2006)

Štruktúra orgánov štátnej správy pôsobiacich v oblasti medzinárodných vzťahov a európskych záležitosti

Štruktúra orgánov štátnej správy pôsobiacich v oblasti medzinárodných vzťahov a európskych záležitosti
(Structure of the State Administration Authorities Acting in International Affairs and European Affairs)

Zoznam zastupiteľských úradov krajín EÚ, NATO a niektorých ďalších krajín

Zoznam zastupiteľských úradov krajín EÚ, NATO a niektorých ďalších krajín
(List of the Embassies EU, NATO countries and Some Other Countries)

Zoznam konzulátov v Slovenskej republike

Zoznam konzulátov v Slovenskej republike
(List of Consulates in the Slovak Republic)

Zoznam zastupiteľských úradov Slovenskej republiky, stálych misií, generálnych konzulátov a slovenských inštitútov

Zoznam zastupiteľských úradov Slovenskej republiky, stálych misií, generálnych konzulátov a slovenských inštitútov
(List of the Embassies of the Slovak Republic, Permanent Missions, Consulates General, Slovak Institutes Abroad)

Zoznam konzulárnych úradov SR vedených honorárnymi konzulmi

Zoznam konzulárnych úradov SR vedených honorárnymi konzulmi
(List of the Consulates of the Slovak Republic headed by the Honorary Consuls)

Počty príslušníkov OS SR v súčasných misiách na podporu mieru

Počty príslušníkov OS SR v súčasných misiách na podporu mieru
(Numbers of the members of the Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic in Peace Missions)