Rastislav Káčer (born 9 July 1965) is a Slovak diplomat, former ambassador of

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

to US,

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

and the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. From September 2022 to May 2023, Káčer served as the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovakia.

Early years

Káčer self-declared himself as a three-quarter Slovak and quarter Hungarian with familial origin from

Tekov Tekov ungarian: ''Bars''is the traditional name of a region situated in southern and central Slovakia. Its territory encompasses the former Bars county, existing in the Kingdom of Hungary from the 11th century until 1918, though it is now admin ...

region. Káčer studied primary and secondary schools in

Žarnovica Žarnovica (; ) is a town and municipality in the Žarnovica District, Banská Bystrica Region in Slovakia. The town is situated in the Hron river valley. It has a population of around 6,000 people. History The first written mention about Žarnov ...

and

Nitra Nitra (; also known by other #Etymology, alternative names) is a city in western Slovakia, situated at the foot of Zobor Mountain in the valley of the river Nitra (river), Nitra. It is located 95 km east of Bratislava. With a population of ...

. After graduating high school, he was unable to study Medicine due to his opposition to the Communist regime. After working in a factory for a year, he managed to enroll at the

Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava (STU) () is the biggest and oldest university of technology in Slovakia. In the 2012 Academic Ranking of World Universities it was ranked in the first 150 in Computer Science, the only university in ...

to study

Chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

. After graduating in 1989, he worked for two years as a Researcher in an Agricultural research institute in

. Following the

Velvet Revolution The Velvet Revolution () or Gentle Revolution () was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations against the one-party government of the Communist Pa ...

, Káčer studied

International relations International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...

at the

Comenius University Comenius University Bratislava () is the largest university in Slovakia, with most of its faculties located in Bratislava. It was founded in 1919, shortly after the creation of Czechoslovakia. It is named after Jan Amos Comenius, a 17th-century ...

, graduating in 1995.

Career in diplomacy

Káčer has been employed at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 1992. Between 1994 and 1998, he served as the first Secretary of Slovak delegation to

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

. Between 2001 and 2003 he served as the State Secretary at the Defense ministry responsible from admission negatiotions with

. Between 2003 and 2008 Káčer served as the Slovakia's ambassador in the United States. After the end of his tenure, he co-founded the influential Slovak think tank GLOBSEC. Between 2013 and 2018 he served as the ambassador to

. His decision to join over 30 countries that displayed the

rainbow flag A rainbow flag is a multicolored flag consisting of the colors of the rainbow. The designs differ, but many of the colors are based on the seven spectral colors of the visible light spectrum. History In the 18th century, American Revolutionary ...

on their embassy buildings in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

to support the

pride parade A pride parade (also known as pride event, pride festival, pride march, or pride protest) is an event celebrating lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) social and self-acceptance, achievements, LGBT rights by country o ...

was criticized by anti-LGBT activists in Slovakia. Between 2018 and 2020 Káčer served as the ambassador in

Foreign minister

Following the departure of the

Freedom and Solidarity Freedom and Solidarity (, SaS), also called Saska, is a Centre-right politics, centre-right political party in Slovakia. Established in 2009,. SaS was founded by economist Richard Sulík, who designed Slovakia's flat tax system. It generally hol ...

party from the government coalition, Káčer was asked by the Defense Minister

Jaroslav Naď Jaroslav Naď (born 21 March 1981) is a Slovak politician who served as Minister of Defence between March 2020 and May 2023, as a nominee of OĽaNO. He specialises in national security issues and previously worked with Globsec. Naď currently ...

with the blessing of Prime Minister

Eduard Heger Eduard Heger (; born 3 May 1976) is a Slovak politician, who served as the Prime Minister of Slovakia from 1 April 2021 to 15 May 2023. He previously served as the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance in the Matovič Cabinet, cabinet of I ...

to replace the

nominee

Ivan Korčok Ivan Korčok (born 4 April 1964 ) is a Slovak politician and retired executive diplomat who was Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovakia from 2020 to 2022 as an independent nominee of the Freedom and Solidarity political party. A gr ...

as the Foreign minister. Káčer accepted to facilitate continuation of pro-Western and pro-European foreign policy of his predecessor, including crucially the support for Ukraine in the

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

Political views

Káčer is strongly supportive of Slovakia's pro-Western orientation and denounced the pro-Russian views of the former Prime Minister

Robert Fico Robert Fico (; born 15 September 1964) is a Slovak politician who has served as the prime minister of Slovakia since 2023. He previously served as prime minister from 2006 to 2010 and from 2012 to 2018. He founded the left-wing political party D ...

. He is a staunch critic of Hungarian prime minister

Viktor Orbán Viktor Mihály Orbán (; born 31 May 1963) is a Hungarian lawyer and politician who has been the 56th prime minister of Hungary since 2010, previously holding the office from 1998 to 2002. He has also led the Fidesz political party since 200 ...

and Russian president

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

. He strongly supports arms transfers to Ukraine, including the transfer of Slovakia's

S-300 missile system The S-300 (NATO reporting name SA-10 Grumble) is a series of long-range surface-to-air missile systems developed by the former Soviet Union. It was produced by NPO Almaz for the Soviet Air Defence Forces to defend against air raids and cruise ...

to aid Ukraine's defenders. He also strongly supports

international sanctions International sanctions are political and economic decisions that are part of diplomatic efforts by countries, multilateral or regional organizations against states or organizations either to protect national security interests, or to protect i ...

against Russia to remain in place for as long as Russia keeps occupying Ukraine's territory including

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

. Káčer considers himself a

liberal conservative Liberal conservatism is a political ideology combining conservative policies with liberal stances, especially on economic issues but also on social and ethical matters, representing a brand of political conservatism strongly influenced by libe ...

. In 2023, Káčer briefly served as a deputy chairman of the Democrats party, but decided to leave politics in May 2023.

Other activities

Trilateral Commission The Trilateral Commission is a nongovernmental international organization aimed at fostering closer cooperation between Japan, Western Europe and North America. It was founded in July 1973, principally by American banker and philanthropist David ...

, Member of the European GroupMembership

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Káčer, Rastislav People from Nová Baňa Ambassadors of Slovakia to Hungary Ambassadors of Slovakia to the United States Ambassadors of Slovakia to the Czech Republic Slovak chemists Living people 1965 births Foreign ministers of Slovakia Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava alumni Comenius University alumni