Slovakia’s Disinformer-in-chief Gets Cosy with Beijing

Chinese interference in Slovakia has a new face

21 May 2024

Matej Šimalčík

Marcin Król Fellow

China has been building relations with the Slovak far-right for many years, but Tibor Eliot Rostas provides a particularly compelling opportunity. Not only is he in charge of one of the most prominent disinformation outlets in the country, but he will soon run in the EP elections, with the potential to become another vessel of Chinese interference in the EU.

Tibor Eliot Rostas, editor-in-chief of the Zem&Vek (Earth and Age) magazine, recently visited China on a junket trip aimed at fostering ties between Beijing and foreign journalists.

While China organises similar trips for persons of interest regularly, Rostas’s case stands out on two counts.

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Matej Šimalčík

Marcin Król Fellow

Matej Šimalčík is the Executive Director of the Central European Institute of Asian Studies, a think tank that focuses on foreign and security policy issues related to East Asia. Matej's research looks at China’s economic and political presence and influence in Central Europe, elite relations, corrosive capital, and the role of European legal instruments in mitigating risks posed by China. He is also a senior associate at the Slovakia-based law firm Nechala and partners. Before that, Matej gained experience as an in-house legal counsel for the Slovak branch of Transparency International, a global anti-corruption watchdog, and several Slovak and Czech law firms.  In 2021, he was listed on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list (Slovak edition) in the Governance and Social Innovation category.

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