The activities of domestic actors of Russian influence were discussed on October 20 and 21, 2025 in Košice and Prešov by the co-authors of the book Who is Playing Russian Roulette with Slovakia, published by the Bratislava-based Mamaš publishing house.
Patrik Haburaj, Domicián Zahorjan and Grigorij Mesežnikov (who is also the editor of the aforementioned publication; the book was also co-authored by IVO experts Zora Bútorová and Jan Bartoš, as well as former minister of foreign Affairs and foreign policy analyst Rastislav Káčer and political scientist Tomáš Nociar) met and debated with readers in the crowded Košice Artfórum book store and the equally crowded Prešov cultural club Čierny most (Black Bridge). Both discussions were moderated by Saša Petrášová from the Mamaš publishing house.
The discussions began with the statement that Russia has long been waging a hybrid war against the democratic West, including Slovakia, trying to dismantle the EU and disrupt NATO, and weaken support for Ukraine fighting against Russian aggression. However, several Slovak politicians and many of their sympathizers refuse to recognize all this and to draw the right conclusions from it. Some of these politicians, specifically those who are in power today, behave in a manner as if the Kremlin was our ally and the West was the enemy. Their activities organically fit into the existing ecosystem of pro-Russian forces operating in Slovakia since 2014, which has been expanding on the political and media-information scene of the country.
In their introductory remarks, Patrik Haburaj, Domicián Zahorjan and Grigorij Mesežnikov pointed out various aspects of the activities of these forces, the specific manifestations and consequences of their actions. This concerns the long-term promotion of Russian narratives in the public and political discourse of its own country, the normalization of bilateral relations between the Slovak Republic and the Russian Federation in 2024-2025, frequent verbal attacks and openly hostile steps towards Ukraine, attacking the EU and its representatives for their solidarity and support for Ukraine, the flirtation of the government forces with pro-Kremlin organizations such as "Brother-for-Brother" and the passive, de facto destructive approach of the leaders of the current government coalition to strategic communication, the purpose of which should be (and unfortunately is not) the defense and support of democratic values and the pro-Western foreign policy, security and defense line of the state.
Readers asked the authors of the book, which analyzes the activities of the pro-Russian lobby, the questions "What to do?" and "How to reverse the unfavorable development?" so that the country remains on a democratic and Western trajectory. The authors finally stated that positive change will not come through some kind of arbitrary intervention from above, but only as a result of tireless activities refuting disinformation, conspiracy theories and fake news, implementing projects revealing the toxic intentions of sympathizers of the old orders and ties, as a result of the active presentation of a fundamental position and intensive discussion of opinion-shaping with the public, and especially as a result of activities preventing pro-Russian forces from shifting the country onto tracks leading to the past.
