The Night Wolves biker gang is suspected of spreading Russian propaganda in Slovakia. (source: TASR)
The 2017 Report on Security of the Slovak Republic notes that the security environment in Slovakia was influenced by the ongoing armed conflicts in Ukraine, Syria, Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, and Yemen, the tense global situation linked to the aggressive behaviour of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), and the overall security situation in Europe.
European security is threatened by continued tension between the European Union, NATO, and the Russian Federation due to its unlawful steps towards Ukraine and the continued support of separatists in eastern Ukraine, the SITA newswire wrote on August 1.
Targeted Russian activities
The report also says that in 2017, there were no security incidents or events that would disrupt the constitutional establishment of Slovakia, the functioning of its constitutional bodies, security of constitutional officials, or activity of the public administration.
Regarding threats from the Kremlin, the report notes Russia continued to build up its military capabilities and train near NATO borders where they also conducted extensive military exercises, including scenarios of conflict with NATO member states.
“Targeted operations continued against individual EU and NATO member states striving to influence their internal political and electoral processes, to increase their internal instability and weaken their unity and their principled position toward violations of international law,” SITA quoted the report.
Furthermore, “in the case of Slovakia, these activities were manifested in particular by targeted propaganda and disinformation directed against the value system and the democratic establishment of the country."
Slovakia is also threaten by extremist groups who oppose Slovakia's EU and NATO membership.
