Dutch Ambassador to Slovakia Gabriella Sancisi with US Ambassador to Slovakia Gautam Rana in Bratislava in December 2022. (source: Facebook/Embassy of the Netherlands in Slovakia)
The Foreign Ministry on Wednesday summoned Dutch Ambassador to Slovakia Gabriella Sancisi due to an event at the Dutch Embassy in Prague, which will focus on analysing the political situation in Slovakia.
The event is set to be held on Thursday, March 7.
"The Foreign Ministry rejects such interference in the home affairs of the Slovak Republic," said the ministry.
The Slovak ministry believes the event of the Centre for an Informed Society will be politically biased. According to the ministry, no representative from the Slovak embassy in the Czech Republic was invited although EU diplomats from other member states (except for Hungary) received an invitation. The ministry also slammed the Dutch Embassy in Prague for providing space for the event.
In reaction, the Czech organiser stressed that it is an NGO, and that the embassy did not interfere in any way in the selection of speakers or invited guests.
"For these reasons, we deny that this event is intended to interfere in any way with the internal affairs of Slovakia," the organisation said, adding that its goal is to present current internal political developments in Slovakia and their overlap with the Czech Republic and the EU.
According to Denník N, the venue has already been changed.
The event should feature Slovak ex-foreign minister Rastislav Káčer (Sep 2022 - May 2023) and Juraj Rizman of the Post Bellum non-governmental organisation, among others, the TASR newswire writes.
Rizman is President Zuzana Čaputová's partner. The governing coalition, led by Smer, is a strong critic of the outgoing president. Last month, she turned to the Constitutional Court over the coalition's controversial amendment to criminal laws. The president has also criticised Slovak MFA Juraj Blanár for his decision to hold bilateral talks with Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov last weekend.
Káčer, who served under former PM Eduard Heger (Demokrati), criticised Orbán's government and Smer for pro-Russian positions in the past. A few days ago, Káčer praised British Ambassador to Slovakia Nigel Baker for his criticism of Slovak PM Robert Fico.
"Nigel Baker's just shown that Britain hasn't lost its balls, and he's an ambassador and not a gray, frightened mouse," Káčer wrote on social media, criticising US Ambassador to Slovakia Gautam Rana for being 'weak' and the USA for being silent.
Rastislav Káčer's reaction to Nigel Baker's video. (source: Facebook)
"Unfortunately, the USA has resigned [supporting] Central Europe. If we don't take care of ourselves, we will end up as a Russian guberniya without the southern territories," the ex-minister added in a comment.
