Slovakia isn't strongly pro-Russian oriented, or strongly pro-western, as most people do not strictly adhere to either in terms of civilisation values or foreign policy, say findings from a public opinion poll carried out by the Slovak Atlantic Commission (SAC), Central European Policy Institute (CEPI) and the FOCUS agency. The support of Slovakia as being a part of the western world reaches almost 40 percent with the young generation, while only 11 percent with the oldest generation, that is, people above the age of 65. The poll also showed that support for EU membership has dropped slightly in the past 5 years. Support for NATO membership hovers around 30 percent. "Predominant is the ambiguity in terms of our geopolitical orientation. In these times of increasing threats it's a challenge also because this ambiguity points to a lack of clear vision and a foreign policy compass coming from the Slovak political elites," commented CEPI director Milan Nič, adding that the less the political elites show us in the right direction, the more vulnerable against conspiracies society will become.







Katarína Urban Richterová, Photo: Flickr.com/rogiro