The Slovak Government decided to reopen the Slovak embassies in Canberra (Australia) and Brussels (Belgium). Foreign Ministry Justified by this step in the framework of political and security interests of the Slovak Republic, as well as economic and cultural interests, providing consular assistance and ensuring cooperation with the compatriot community.
Slovakia abolished these embassies in 2022, which included embassies in Ethiopia (headquarters of the African Union), Kuwait (long-standing high consular fee revenues), and Denmark. Although Denmark was eventually left out, the other four embassies (Australia, Belgium, Ethiopia, Kuwait) were abolished and a new one was created in Saudi Arabia, where Slovakia has long been absent compared to other V4 countries.
The abolition and opening of Slovak embassies is quite frequent. Since 1993, there have been as many as 34 changes in the embassy network involving 28 countries, which is an average of more than one change per year, not taking into account changes in consulates-general, honorary consulates and other types of embassies.
The frequent changes have been criticised, particularly for the lack of consistency and practicality of the changes, which may ultimately bring more losses than benefits. Closing some embassies (where Slovakia had good conditions) and then reopening them in the same country ten years later could cause unnecessary cost increases.
Apart from Australia and Belgium, embassies in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) or Vietnam are one such example. In the case of the UAE, the discussed the reopening of the embassy 4 years after its closure. Opposite examples were embassies that opened and then closed within a few years (e.g. Kuwait, Malaysia, Ethiopia). In total, three embassies were affected by the security situation in the country (Iraq, Syria and Libya).
From another point of view, it is a good and timely response mechanism in the establishment of embassies that could ultimately bring benefits for Slovakia. However, it should be underpinned by an analysis and based on a certain strategic concept.
And in Slovakia’s history, a certain conceptual and long-term strategy for the development of the network, linked to global geopolitical and geo-economic trends, has been missing many times, which was mainly due to the financial under-dimensioning of the foreign ministry, and thus its de facto limitation of development, while its potential financial benefits were overlooked.
Finance is the main determinant of the development of the embassy network and also of the foreign policy thrust of a small state. Former Minister Miroslav Lajčák noted that Slovakia has as many embassies as it can financially afford, although he himself would be in favour of a larger number of embassies.
Nevertheless, with the announced opening of embassies in Australia and Belgium, finance has appeared for perhaps the first time as a supporting argumentthat this is an investment that can then be recouped in the form of taxes on Slovak exporters or in attracting foreign investment. In the context of Slovakia’s recent downgrading in the competitiveness rankings, the state’s investment approach to diplomatic representations is particularly important. However, with the announced cuts in the state sector, further development of the network is questionable.
Author: Filip Šandor, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University Bratislava, EXPORT ANALYTICA
