SOCIETY 384

AMBASSADORS
SLOVAKIA
Neighbours with
a strong bond
In an interview with SOCIETY, H.E. Jozef Polakovič, Ambassador of Slovakia to Austria,
spoke about the special connection lines between Slovakia and Austria, the new
Slovak government’s foreign policy and his experience as a diplomat in the US.
INTERVIEW BY MAG. GERTRUD TAUCHHAMMER
50
“Today, the barbed
wires don’t separate
us from each other
anymore”
Austria is your first posting as an Ambassador.
What are your priorities and your visions for your
term here?
It is a privilege to serve as an Ambassador to a
country that is so close to Slovakia both geographically
and culturally; to a country with which
we have excellent relations. My ambition is to further
develop this extraordinary relationship and
make sure our success story will continue.
An important part of it are the traditionally close
contacts between the highest political representatives
of our countries and the well-established
economic cooperation. The numbers speak
for themselves: Austria is the number two foreign
investor in the Slovak economy and number six
trade partner. I am pleased that the list of Slovak
companies successfully operating in the Austrian
market is also expanding.
I consider myself a result-oriented person. This
reflects an ambition to focus on relations between
Slovakia and Austria like practical
cooperation, implementation
of joint projects, strengthening of
people-to-people contacts and
the further development of academic
and research exchange
programmes. Innovation, energy
efficiency, green transformation,
and e-mobility are some of the
topics I consider key.
Another important part of the
Slovak-Austrian success story is
the cross-border cooperation. This is where
dozens of projects are implemented that
improve the lives of our citizens. Those include
large transport infrastructure projects, cooperation
between the national emergency medical services
but also small local initiatives such as the
construction of cycle trails.
Last but not least, I would like to mention one
more key area. Based on almost twenty years of
my diplomatic career, I am convinced that culture
and the emotions associated with it can
help us bring people
closer, better understand
each other, and
thus also create necessary
conditions
for mutually beneficial
cooperation. It
is therefore my personal
priority to put the presentation of Slovakia’s
cultural and artistic diversity to the forefront
of the Embassy’s activities.
What, in your opinion, are the main connection
lines between Austria and Slovakia? How are the
two countries, from your perspective, different?
The relationship between Slovakia and Austria is
defined by geographical, historical, cultural, and
in many respects also mental proximity, by strong
economic ties as well as joint membership in the
EU and the Eurozone.
For many centuries, Slovakia was part of the
Habsburg Monarchy and Vienna was its capital.
Today, this reflects in our culture. It might sound
like a simplification, but the two examples I would
like to mention illustrate the strong links that exist
between Slovakia and Austria. Everyone knows
that Vienna Schnitzel is the national dish in Austria.
And do you know what the most common
dish served as part of a Sunday lunch in Slovak
families is? Schnitzel. The cultural influence is, of
course, mutual. Another example from the culinary
area: Everyone knows the famous Sachertorte.
But did you know that its creator comes
from the small Slovak town of Želiezovce, and this
is where the dessert’s fame began?
Historical connections also affect today’s reality.
Whether we are talking about national mentality
or principles that form the basis of the functioning
of the state administration, the similarity between
Slovakia and Austria might be sometimes striking.
The closeness of the two capitals is truly
unique. Just as at the beginning of the 20 th century
people from Bratislava, back then known as
Presporok or Pressburg, used to go to the capital
of the k. und k. monarchy to enjoy a Sunday coffee
and strudel, today people from Vienna visit
the Slovak capital to benefit from the high-quality
opera, ballet and orchestra performances. The
only difference is that the seventy kilometres distance
can be now covered in less than an hour by
car and in only a little more by train.
No two countries are
identical and obviously
there are also differences
between Slovakia
and Austria. They concern
many areas and are
due to different historical
paths after the Second
H.E. Jozef Polakovič spoke with
Gertrud Tauchhammer
THE LEADING MAGAZINE OF MODERN DIPLOMACY