‘We are seen as total lunatics,’ says Slovakia’s former UK ambassador

Róbert Ondrejcsák, Slovakia’s outgoing ambassador to the United Kingdom, has launched a blistering critique of the Slovak government’s foreign policy, describing it as “irrelevant, damaging, and tragically misguided.”

Ondrejcsák, who has also resigned from the Slovak foreign ministry, said his departure was inevitable from the moment the current government took power in 2023. “The only question was when,” he remarked.

His four-year tenure in London ended under conditions he described as mentally and emotionally draining. “There were moments of desperation, even shame,” he admitted. “I was never ashamed of my country – only of some of its political representatives.”

The former ambassador highlighted his efforts to elevate Slovakia’s role in London, establishing a long-overdue strategic bilateral dialogue with the UK in foreign policy and security. He also worked to institutionalise cooperation in countering disinformation, an area where he praised British expertise. However, he accused the new Slovak government of dismantling these efforts. “We’ve left ourselves exposed and somehow call it a political success. Congratulations.”

He pointed to Slovakia’s increasing isolation, arguing that the country was losing access to high-level diplomatic circles where major decisions are made. “We were finally being invited into the inner circle, to the spaces where real decisions happen,” he said, referring to meetings where European security and foreign policy strategy are shaped. “That’s where information is shared, where Europe’s future and our own security are decided.” But in recent months, he said, that access has faded. “Now, there is only bewilderment about what our officials in Bratislava are doing and saying.”

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His criticism went beyond diplomacy, warning that Slovakia’s geopolitical shifts had left it increasingly marginalised among Western allies. “We have become irrelevant. We have no influence, no voice, no weight,” he said. “Our supposed ‘multi-vector foreign policy’ is nothing but a hollow marketing slogan, at best – at worst, it is a deliberate drift towards the world’s worst dictators.” He pointed to Slovakia’s cooling relations with the EU and NATO while forging closer ties with Russia and China.  

Slovakia is in its weakest foreign policy position since 1998, Ondrejcsák warned. “We have lost every relevant ally for our future – from our closest neighbours like the Czech Republic and Poland to major players in Europe like Germany, France, and Britain,” he wrote, adding that in the Baltics and Scandinavia, Slovakia is now seen as a “total lunatic.”

He ridiculed the government’s approach to diplomacy, likening it to “a party where you insult your closest allies, flip the table, and then wake up the next morning realising you have no money to pay the bill.” The shift has been particularly damaging in Brussels, where Slovakia was once regarded as a reliable pro-European voice. “In Europe, they don’t believe us anymore,” Ondrejcsák said. “They shake our hands out of politeness, but behind our backs, they laugh or shake their heads.”

Ondrejcsák’s resignation is the latest in a string of diplomatic upheavals since Prime Minister Robert Fico’s return to office. Slovakia, once seen as a committed pro-European player, has in recent months distanced itself from its traditional allies while fostering closer ties with Moscow and Beijing. The government’s shift has included moves to weaken support for Ukraine, a stance that Ondrejcsák called both “shameful” and “short-sighted”. He criticised the government’s contradictory position, arguing that “betraying Ukraine while insisting we want to be part of its post-war reconstruction is absurd.”

As for his own future, Ondrejcsák intends to remain in London to lead a major British think tank focusing on international security, though he has not yet disclosed which organisation. However, he vowed to stay engaged in Slovak public life. “I have served my country for 25 years and will continue to do so,” he said. “Slovakia must be modern, European, proud, prosperous - and, most importantly, normal.”