By Michele Maresca
Before Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico’s rise to power last year, Slovakia was one of Taiwan’s strongest Central European partners. His predecessors Eduard Heger and Ludovit Odor were solid partners of Ukraine and Taiwan, as exemplified by their pro-western posture in the international arena. At the same time, then-Slovakian president Zuzana Caputova advocated for safeguarding democracy from authoritarian countries’ hybrid and conventional threats.
This paradigm was challenged ahead of the parliamentary elections last year, when the Smer party-led opposition promoted a totally different agenda when it comes to diplomatic and international affairs. In particular, it stressed the need to introduce a shift with regards to the Russia-Ukraine war by giving a priority to an immediate diplomatic solution rather than to keep providing weapons to Kyiv.
Within the same foreign policy agenda, Smer’s leader Fico underscored the importance of China as “a trade partner” while avoiding pressuring Beijing on human rights issues: Every state official, president or prime minister, no matter how powerful and influential, always walks down the red carpet in Beijing and seeks business opportunities.
Smer, thanks to the support from the populist Hlas party and far-right Slovak National Party, is now governing the country. In addition to the parliamentary election, another main event in Slovakian politics was the presidential election this year. Fico’s political partner, Slovakian President Peter Pellegrini of Hlas achieved a significant win in the second round against the pro-Western candidate Ivan Korcok. These two electoral results give us a key to understanding recent developments regarding Slovakia’s foreign policy strategy.
Slovakia’s new posture towards China and Taiwan became evident when Fico assumed power last year. The prime minister of Slovakia is one of the most prominent supporters of stronger economic and commercial relations with China, regardless of Beijing’s full economic warfare against the EU.
“China offers enormous trade opportunities and therefore cannot be overlooked,” he said after a meeting between leaders of the central and eastern European countries and China held in November last year.
Fico’s inclination towards China has roots that date back to his first term as prime minister in 2006. Since then, he downplayed Beijing’s human rights violations, and aggressive actions towards Taiwan and other countries in the South China Sea region. As for Fico, indeed, Bratislava should focus on the medium and long term benefits of a closer partnership with China. In that sense, economic interests at stake have to take precedence over any values-oriented concern.
An emblematic manifestation of this new course of action has been Fico’s visit to Bejing from Thursday last week to Tuesday, during which the two countries decided to establish a “Chinese-Slovak strategic partnership.” They said they “have reached broad consensus on their bilateral relations” and that they “do not have any unresolved issues between them.” China and Slovakia issued a joint statement which also included a reference to Taiwan.
In the section indicated as “political domain,” we can see a clear reference to how Slovakia’s foreign policy agenda is working under Fico.
“Slovakia reaffirmed its commitment to the ‘One China policy,’ that there is but one China in the world,” it said. “Slovakia opposes any attempts to interfere in China’s internal affairs, sovereignty and territorial integrity, including Taiwan.”
Two main aspects can be emphasized: A misrepresentation of the “one China policy,” as it is generally applied by the western countries, given that this concept has been used to spread the unfounded theory based on China’s “sovereignty” over Taiwan; the explicit reference to Taiwan as “China’s internal affairs.” It reproduces Bejing’s usual talk about a “Taiwan question” that is “purely one of its domestic affairs.”
This strategic adjustment brought about by Fico’s government does not come as a surprise, given his past actions and statements. What has changed dramatically during these decades is our perception of the stability of the global order and the way in which destabilizing powers such as China or Russia are trying to subvert rather than protect it.
With a Western world increasingly aware of the need to unite in the face of a growing assertiveness from authoritarian actors both in Europe and in Asia, Slovakia has to make a decision between two mutually incompatible international realities. Failing to do so would result in losing a like-minded partner such as Taiwan for many years to come.
Michele Maresca is an analyst at the online international law journal Il Caffe Geopolitico.
