Critics warn of espionage risks as Slovakia restores military-diplomatic representation with Russia

When Robert Fico sat opposite Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin in May, the Slovak prime minister said relations between their countries should extend beyond energy supplies .

He told the Russian president that steps had already been taken to restore military attaches at their respective embassies.

Slovakia has sent two military officers — Brigadier General Slavomir Staviarsky and his deputy, Colonel Ivo Gahir — to Moscow and is preparing to receive a Russian military attache in Bratislava, restoring military-diplomatic representation for the first time since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 .

The move has prompted criticism from opposition politicians, who question what Slovakia stands to gain.

They warn that Russia could use the arrangement to strengthen its intelligence operations.

"One additional military attache does not fundamentally change that broader picture; the appointment's main significance is the political signal it sends," Martin Poliacik, a former Slovak MP affiliated with the opposition Progressive Slovakia party , told DW.

" NATO allies should be concerned both about the activities of the incoming officer and about the political environment in which he will operate," he went on.

The appointments were reported by Slovak news website Aktuality.sk on October 8. Both officers appear on the Slovak Defense Ministry's published list of military diplomats serving abroad.