Two discussion events dedicated to bilateral relations between Slovakia and Russia as well as various activities of the Russian Federation, aimed at the EU, individual member states of the union, including Slovakia, with the intention of influencing the internal situation and foreign policy, took place in Komárno (October 2, 2025, club Rév - A Magyar Kultúra Háza) and in Myjava (October 3, 2025, café Saima). IVO president Grigorij Mesežnikov discussed with citizens of the mentioned cities. 



The organizer of the discussion in Komárno was the civic initiative EgyMásÉrt. In Myjava the event was prepared and held by the civic initiative Magna Miava as part of the discussion cycle LET'S TALK! In Komárno the discussion was moderated by civic activist Igor Konka, in Myjava this role was taken on by university student Jakub Chvaštula. 



As part of the discussions, IVO president presented to the audience the publication Who Plays Russian Roulette with Slovakia, recently published by the Bratislava-based MAMAŠ publishing house. In addition to Grigorij Mesežnikov (author and editor), IVO experts Zora Bútorová and Ján Bartoš contributed to the book. The co-authors are also security analysts Domicián Zahorjan and Patrik Haburaj from the NEST Institute, political scientist Tomáš Nociar, and former diplomat and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic Rastislav Káčer, author of the introduction. 

The issues related to Russia's aggression against Ukraine were discussed, the views of the Slovak government formations (current and previous) on the causes and course of the Russian-Ukrainian war, and the positions of the current Slovak government on the emerging new formats of allied security and defense cooperation, motivated by the effort to strengthen assistance to Ukraine and create better conditions for its own defense in case of aggression by the Kremlin. 

IVO president and the citizens paid special attention through their questions and remarks to the activities of the Russian state propaganda apparatus and its partners and collaborators in Slovakia, to tools used by actors of Russian influence. The participants in the debate pointed out the connection between the country's development in the areas of democracy, the rule of law, civil society and independent media and the situation in international relations and foreign policy. They touched on the factors of Slovak society's resilience to the hostile influence of authoritarian states.