The world can change in a blink of the eye these days. Hence, B’link is a fitting title for this new initiative of Slovak foreign policy experts.

What is B’link?

B’link stands for Bratislava’s – or, B’lava’s – link to Brussels’ foreign and security policy. It aims to provide a forum for wider, deeper and livelier policy debate on key issues related to European and global affairs of concern to the new EU member states in general and Slovakia in particular.

Who is b’linking?

We are young, Western-educated foreign policy professionals, who have worked on foreign policy issues in regions ranging from North America to Central Asia. Our team includes Slovakia’s top experts on economic policy and the euro, security and defense issues, the EU enlargement and neighbourhood policy, EU institutions and energy policy, with years of work experience in government as well as Western and Slovak think-tanks and NGOs.

Our (B’) motivation:

For most of Slovakia’s post-communist history, the country’s foreign policy focused on the mammoth twin goals of NATO and EU enlargement. But when the mission was accomplished in 2004, we entered a period of what is best described as “hibernation”, acting as passive and unimaginative members of the “clubs” that we had worked so hard to join. We had few ideas of what we expected from the EU and NATO: we didn’t know how we could use them to defend our interests or how we could contribute to the achievement of their common goals.

Our (B’) mission:

B’link seeks to frame and shape Slovakia’s foreign policy agenda in the post-accession era and to facilitate the country’s transformation into an active and valued member of the international institutions it belongs to: mainly NATO and the EU, but also the UN, OSCE and the Council of Europe.
For the Slovak readers, we have outlined our vision of Slovakia’s new foreign policy in the book Bruselenie valašiek: naša zahraničná politika po novom (loosely translated as Brusselization: Slovakia’s new foreign policy), released by Bratislava-based publishing house Kalligram in June 2010.

Our (B’) objectives:

Above all, we wish to address the Slovak audience, arguing the case that foreign policy – and not just any foreign policy – matters. Even small(er) states have the right and responsibility to speak up on the international scene and to seek to mould the decision-making in international institutions.
By wielding influence on Slovakia’s foreign policy, we also hope to speak to the European and global audience, via our country’s contribution to the foreign, security, economic and energy agenda of NATO and the EU. We firmly believe that in order to survive and thrive, these institutions need all of their members to actively take part in solving the common problems.

Our (B‘) activities:

The overall aim is to promote an informed discourse on foreign policy by convening public and private meetings between decision-makers and opinion-makers: government officials, parliamentarians, diplomats, epistemic communities, journalists and activists.
On this blog, we will be publishing common positions on issues of the day and briefings on key debates in NATO and the EU. But contrary to other outlets, we won’t stop at “desk-top“ research.
Our unique contribution will lie in bringing our points and arguments “home“: most importantly, to policy-makers. Through personal meetings, we will be in constant touch with with relevant officials in the government, parliament, NATO and the EU.
We will also go beyond the blog to engage the wider audience in Slovakia, mainly by communicating via social media and organizing bi-monthly public discussions on foreign policy at Slovak universities, both with our experts and guest speakers from Slovakia and abroad.

Thank you! We welcome all of your questions and comments. B’active!

Tomáš Valášek
Jozef Bátora
Jana Kobzová
Balász Jarábik
Milan Nič
Kristína Mikulová
Karel Hirman
Michal Horváth