She told Kočner he looked like a Hollywood star. Pőtheová now has plum diplomatic post

When Slovak diplomats formally opened the state-run Slovak Institute cultural centre on Kensington Palace Gardens on Wednesday, one of the main figures was a close acquaintance of convicted fraudster and accused murdererMarian Kočner.

She was not a guest.

Instead, Soňa Pőtheová is the director of the new institute. She has held numerous positions during the various governments led by the Smer party – in fact for eight of its fourteen years in power. These included head of the parliamentary press department during Pavol Paška's chairmanship of parliament, and head of the Office for Personal Data Protection, which under her leadership was in the habit of demanding that journalists reveal their sources upon pain of being fined.

During her role as director of the data protection office, to which she was elected by parliament in 2015, Pőtheová exchanged dozens of WhatsApp messages with Kočner, in several of which she attempted to flatter him. For example, she praised his performance at a press conference at which Kočner announced the creation of a portal aimed at discrediting journalists.

Kočner, who combed his hair back, also received a message from Pőtheová saying he resembled Luke Perry, star of the 1990s hit TV series Beverly Hills 90210, who had a similar hairstyle. "An absolute resemblance to you," she wrote.

At the end of last year, the Foreign Affairs Ministry first gave Pőtheová a job within the department and subsequently selected her as the only candidate in the selection process for a key position in the field of cultural diplomacy in the United Kingdom. She became the director of the new Slovak Institute there in March.

She encouraged Kočner to enter politics

The Office for the Protection of Personal Data, which is little known to the public, became visible under Pőtheová's leadership when the media reported in 2020 on how it had been trying to find the source of a video published by Czech investigative journalists.

The video captured Marian Kočner in the office of then general prosecutor Dobroslav Trnka, installing a hidden camera. This later resulted in footage of a meeting between Trnka and then Finance Minister Ján Počiatek.

Unaware that he was being recorded, Počiatek is seen in the video joking about how Ján Slota, then leader of the Slovak National Party (SNS), which formed part of a scandal-drenched coalition with Počiatek's Smer party between 2006 and 2010, "fleeced" Smer leader Robert Fico in the Interblue emissions trading fraud.

Under Pőtheová’s leadership, the office sent a request for cooperation to the Czech Centre for Investigative Journalism. It inquired not only about the source of the video featuring Kočner but also if it had any other similar videos, and when they were made.

At the same time, the office warned that refusal to cooperate could result in a fine of €10 million, which the journalists considered to be intimidation. They pointed out that ethical principles required them to protect their sources.

Although the office claimed it was merely fulfilling its duty regarding the Kočner video, the then Public Defender of Rights Mária Patakyová reached a different conclusion after an investigation.

According to her, the office's actions violated the right to freedom of expression and the fundamental principles of administrative procedure and good public administration. The threat of a fine, according to Patakyová, impinged on the freedom of journalistic activity and "could have had a chilling effect."

Pőtheová was dismissed from her position by parliament following the 2020 elections, as a result of which a Smer-led government was replaced by a coalition comprising OĽaNO, Sme Rodina, SaS and Za Ľudí. She left the job a few weeks before her five-year term would have expired.

Pőtheová has known Kočner since at least 2006, when she did PR for him during his run for mayor of Bratislava.

They later remained in contact. In 2020, the media published dozens of messages exchanged between the pair via WhatsApp.

"Oh my God! I’m curious! Finally, some adrenaline in this drabness," Pőtheová wrote to Kočner after a live press conference of his was broadcast on TV news channel TA3.

In October 2014, Kočner had told her not to send so many compliments because he wouldn’t be able to sleep. Three years later, then head of a state office, she praised him for "taking on" a journalist at a press conference and encouraged him to start his own party and enter politics.

Pőtheová has not commented on her ties to Kočner. As of Wednesday this week, no responses had been received to questions sent to the email address of the institute she now leads.

Entry into diplomacy

The Foreign Affairs Ministry, under the leadership of Juraj Blanár (Smer), appointed Pőtheová as head of the Slovak Institute in London just three months after taking her on as an employee – a meteoric rise in a ministry at which normal employees typically take years, or even decades, to prove themselves.

The press department states that she started working in the department, specifically in the field of cultural diplomacy, in December 2023 and became the director of the institute on 14 March 2024.

Thus, Pőtheová returned to a public role after the government was once again formed by Smer, along with Hlas and SNS. Years ago, she had been proposed for the position of head of the Office for Personal Data Protection by the then second-in-command of Smer, Robert Kaliňák.

"One candidate applied for the selection process," the ministry stated, adding that the candidate met all the legal requirements and specified qualification prerequisites.

Compared to the published CVs of the other current directors of Slovak Institutes elsewhere, Pőtheová alone lacks any experience in the field of culture or long-term experience in diplomacy.

"Regarding the appointment of directors of Slovak Institutes, we state that, given the nature of the activities, these positions are often held by people active in the public space," the department said.

In the past, for example, the well-known presenter Alena Heribanová was the head of the Slovak Institute in Vienna.

Pőtheová also previously worked in television. From 1997, she was a reporter and hosted the discussion show "Na Telo" on TV Markíza, then she founded a PR agency. She also organised media training for the Penta group.

She returned to Penta last year through the media outlets of the News and Media Holding publishing house, where she began hosting two shows: "Dôverne so Soňou Bullovou" on the website of the Plus 7 Dní weekly, and "VČAS Soňa Bullová" on Cas.sk, the website of the Nový Čas tabloid. Bullová is her maiden name; on the Slovak Institute's website she uses the surname Pőtheová.

The institute's English-language website currently has no events listed under its 'Program' section. The 'Contact' section carries a single link that loops back to the main page. The 'Our mission' section states that the "ambition of SIL [Slovak Institute in London] is to act as a window for current Slovak culture."

The budget for the newly opened Slovak Institute in London for cultural activities this year is €19,500. It has three positions, including the director's post. Slovak Institutes often use the administrative staff of associated Slovak embassies, and the institute in London is located at the embassy's address, which is one of the fanciest in London. In fact, it is on one of very few roads in London with restricted public access, making it a slightly odd location for a supposedly public-facing institution.

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