Heads up – Embassy 34

On top of things

Miroslav Wlachovsky admits he has barely had time to unpack since he hit the Heathrow tarmac back in March.

Slovakia’s Ambassador came to London with the aim of putting his country “on the map” – but perhaps he got more than he bargained for.

Because for a while the attention of the world’s media and markets was fixed on Slovakia, first when it refused to approve an initial bailout loan to Greece and later when the coalition government struggled to show solidarity with its Eurozone partners and approve the financial rescue plan for indebted Eurozone countries – in the teeth of growing Euroscepticism at home  and an unwilling coalition partner.

The extension of European Financial Stability Fund was eventually approved but not before the coalition paid the ultimate price, splintering under the pressure.

“Everybody was surprised that a small country, Slovakia, had the audacity to create more problems by speaking its mind!” he smiles ironically.

But there was a reason why some Slovaks objected so strongly to the bailout, turning Slovakia from the EU’s poster child to its problem child, explains Wlachovsky.

“Slovakia had to endure years of belt-tightening and painful economic reforms in order to join the EU,” he says. “So this question is not just about Greece or Italy, it has to do with the Eurozone system and how it functions. There are rules that must be adhered to and on this occasion they weren’t. Yes, we need to show solidarity but the support comes at a price.”

Wlachovsky was closely involved in Slovakia’s EU accession negotiations and knows the sacrifices it made. A strong critic of the populist prime minister Vladimir Merciar’s “two-faced” foreign policy, he was invited to join the Slovak Foreign Ministry in 1998 to help steer Slovakia back towards Euro-Atlantic integration.

“It was an enormous task because we had a lot of catching up to do,” says Wlachovsky. In 2001 he was appointed foreign policy advisor to Mikulas Dzurinda, the marathon-running Prime Minister with a reforming zeal.

Wlachovsky describes working with Mr Dzurdinda as “bootcamp” but against the odds Slovakia made the grade to be invited to join Nato at the Prague Summit in 2002 and the EU at the Copenhagen Summit a year later. “These were two great moments for me. It proved that even a small nation can change its fate.”

Soon afterwards, Wlachovsky was posted to Washington (2003-07) to secure US ratification of Slovakia’s membership of Nato. Formal accession into the EU soon followed, after which he saw a noticeable change in the style of diplomacy.

“You could feel the collective weight and leverage of being in this club,” he says. “We had to learn fast how to articulate our views on EU policies. It was a new sort of challenge, but it was better to be challenging from within than from outside!”

Being part of the common market provided huge opportunities too – VW, Peugeot, Citroen and Kia factories relocated to Slovakia, making it the biggest car producer per capita in the world. But concentration in the car industry has meant that the current economic slowdown has had an adverse effect on the Slovak economy.

Diversification is essential, says Wlachovsky, as is the EU Cohesion Fund to assist some of Slovakia’s under-developed regions. “In Eastern Slovakia unemployment is as high as 60 per cent. So we need assistance to build the infrastructure which will help develop these regions.”

Investment from Britain will help too – the UK is only the 12th largest provider of FDI in Slovakia, so there is room for improvement, particularly in R&D, says Wlachovsky.

Another goal is to boost academic ties – there are already many Slovaks studying at Britain’s universities and the Ambassador wants to enhance UK-Slovak cooperation in science education.

He also wants more Brits to experience Slovakia’s “concentrated beauty” – a variety of landscapes in a small territory.

Culturally, Slovakia is very diverse too and the Ambassador, who spent the past two years as a human rights expert at the OSCE in Vienna, says developing a fair system of minority rights is a priority for the government.  “You can see our multiculturalism as a problem or an advantage. I belong to the second group because I think it adds value to a country.”

His work at the OSCE also alerted him to the problem of people trafficking and it is something that he will be monitoring closely with the UK authorities and assisting Slovaks in need.

But most of the 200,000 Slovaks working and studying in the UK are doing well so next year Slovak athletes will enjoy plenty of ‘home support’ at the 2012 Olympics. A series of cultural events at ‘Slovak House’ is planned to raise Slovakia’s profile.

Beyond that, the consulate in London is getting an upgrade to accommodate this large community and the Ambassador is looking to set up a new consulate to serve the North of the UK.