Slovakia Restores Military Contacts With Russia From Bratislava

Slovakia has restored military diplomatic contacts with Russia as two Slovak officers begin assignments in Moscow and a Russian military attache is expected in Bratislava, following Prime Minister Robert Fico's May 2026 talks with Vladimir Putin.

The Slovak Ministry of Defense confirmed that two officers were sent to Moscow. Brigadier General Slavomír Staviarský became military attache and Colonel Ivo Gahír was appointed deputy, according to reports from Aktuality.sk and ua.news.

The move reverses a four-year suspension of military attache exchanges after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The previous Russian military attache was expelled from Slovakia during diplomatic measures taken by the government of Eduard Heger.

Fico discussed restarting military attache cooperation during his May visit to Moscow. The Slovak prime minister presented the move as part of maintaining broader relations with Russia.

"We have taken concrete steps to restore the cooperation of military attaches at the respective embassies," said Robert Fico, Prime Minister of Slovakia.

Fico also linked continued engagement with Moscow to energy relations between the countries during his conversation with Putin.

"We receive significant amounts of energy from you, but that is probably not enough to limit cooperation only to this area," said Robert Fico, Prime Minister of Slovakia.

The expected Russian representative in Bratislava is Maksim Wierieżan, a 46-year-old Russian naval officer who previously served at the Russian embassy in Rome and spent recent years in Moscow. His appointment was described by media reports as likely but not officially confirmed.

Opposition lawmakers criticized the decision and raised concerns about possible intelligence and influence activities by a Russian military representative. Tomáš Valášek of Progressive Slovakia argued that the arrangement could create risks for Slovakia.

"Russia will not allow us access to anything it does not want us to access. On the other hand, we potentially receive here a person who can conduct disinformation operations and influence operations," said Tomáš Valášek, opposition lawmaker.

The Slovak government said the renewed contacts are intended to support practical relations and official communication. The dispute comes amid wider disagreements over Slovakia's foreign policy direction and its approach toward Russia.