Slovak Defense Minister calls Armenia 'occupier' twice: Hetq

PanARMENIAN.Net - Slovakia’s Minister of Defense, Robert Kaliňák, stated twice in recent interviews—in February and March 2024—that Armenia had allegedly “occupied Azerbaijani territory,” reports Hetq.am . The first instance was during a February 21 interview with Slovakia’s TA3 television, and the second occurred on March 16 in another published conversation.

In the context of discussing elections in Ukraine, Kaliňák drew a controversial parallel with Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh: “If Ukraine were the only country under occupation, I wouldn’t comment. But in Cyprus, elections are held despite one-third of the country being under occupation for 40 years. Similarly, elections have been held elsewhere—such as when Armenia occupied Azerbaijan, yet certain processes still occurred there. There are many such cases,” he claimed.

Despite the gravity of these allegations, the Armenian government has issued no public or diplomatic response. Neither Armenia’s Ambassador to Slovakia, Andranik Hovhannisyan, nor Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan has reacted to disinformation spread by a high-ranking Slovak official.

The Slovak Armenian community remains the only visible respondent. It has issued two statements challenging Kaliňák’s claims and urging fact-checking. On February 22, the “News from Karabakh-Artsakh” Facebook page posted: “We regret that the minister has succumbed to Azerbaijani propaganda. Politicians must verify facts instead of spreading misinformation.”

Citing historical evidence, the community asserted that it is Azerbaijan that has occupied parts of Armenia’s internationally recognized territory, expelled 120,000 Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh, and destroyed Christian heritage sites.

Responding to Kaliňák’s March remarks, the community reiterated: “Armenia has never invaded Azerbaijan nor occupied any Azerbaijani territory. You have likely become a victim of dictator Aliyev’s regime propaganda… Azerbaijan currently occupies about 200 square kilometers of Armenian sovereign territory and holds dozens of Armenian captives in Baku.”

Their statement concluded: “Imagine if a neighboring country bombed Slovakia and occupied most of Bratislava… That’s exactly what Azerbaijan is doing to Armenia. These are the facts.”

Nevertheless, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has yet to respond adequately. Although Hetq submitted questions to Minister Mirzoyan, the ministry issued only vague statements, saying it maintains contact with Slovak counterparts and “diplomatically raises concerns,” without specifically addressing Kaliňák’s comments.

It is noted that Armenia previously sent formal protest notes to Belarus in June 2024 and to Russia in January 2025 regarding statements by their officials. However, there has been no such action regarding Slovakia.

Slovakia and Azerbaijan are known to cooperate militarily. In 2017-2018, under Prime Minister Robert Fico’s administration, Slovakia exported heavy artillery to Azerbaijan. These weapons were reportedly used during the 44-day war in Nagorno-Karabakh. Official documents listed an Israeli defense firm as the recipient, masking Azerbaijan as the end-user—an arrangement exposed by Ambassador Seyranyan and later confirmed by Slovak journalists. Slovakia’s Ministry of Economy, responsible for the export permit, denied liability, stating that the buyer was an Israeli entity.