This chapter analyzes political, economic, and military-security developments in Slovakia since the fall of communism and, especially, since it became independent on January 1, 1993. In Part I I review Slovakia's democratization process, its economic performance, and the security situation it found itself in after achieving sovereignty. Part II examines Slovak foreign policy since 1993 and Bratislava's campaign for NATO membership. Part III concentrates on matters pertaining to civil–military relations. In the last section of the chapter the focus shifts to military reform and the state of the Slovak armed forces.

DOMESTIC POLITICS, ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE, SECURITY STATUS

Domestic Politics

The postcommunist era in Slovak politics may be conveniently divided into three distinctive periods. The first, December 1989–December 1992, spans from the fall of communism to the breakup of federal Czechoslovakia. The second phase, January 1993–September 1998, embraces the nearly six-year period in which Slovakia was ruled – with a brief interruption in March–October 1994 – by Vladimír Mečiar and his semi-authoritarian populist-nationalist coalition government. The third stage, September 1998 to the present, represents the tenure of liberal democratic coalition governments under the premiership of Mikuláš Dzurinda.

The improbably peaceful “velvet revolution” was initiated and led by Czech dissidents in Prague. From the beginning, their Slovak colleagues were followers rather than leaders of the democratization process which made them vulnerable to being portrayed as insufficiently dedicated to pursuing specifically Slovak interests. After the collapse of the communist state, Czechoslovak politics were repluralized quickly.