Slovakia holds 1.21 % of the EU population. Its government is on record against mandatory scanning of private messages, since 26 Nov 2025.
Against Last checked 22 October 2026
What the government has said
“Non-selective scanning of communication is problematic; Slovakia cannot yet give a positive answer.”Council working party, 12 September 2025, as recorded in the German cable, translated
Receipt: Vote against the mandate, 26 Nov 2025 (CTK)
Voted against the mandate over encryption. In June 2026 wanted detection negotiated now while doubting that targeted orders would ever be used.
How it voted in the Council
- Negotiating mandate, 26 November 2025
- no The Council position adopted in Coreper: voluntary scanning only, no detection orders. Coreper does not publish votes; the split was reported the same day by the Czech news agency CTK.
- Chat Control 1.0, 23 July 2026
- yes The vote that brought back the temporary rules: voluntary scanning of private messages allowed until 3 April 2028.
A government can oppose mandatory scanning and still vote for the voluntary regime. The two are listed separately for that reason. Council votes need 15 states with 65 % of the population; four states with more than 35 % block.
How its MEPs voted
On 9 July 2026 the European Parliament voted on a motion to reject the Council text that brought back voluntary scanning, Chat Control 1.0. Rejection needed 361 votes and got 314, so the text passed. Of the 15 MEPs elected in Slovakia, 11 voted to reject it, 1 voted against rejection, 0 abstained and 3 did not vote.
- 11 for rejection, that is against voluntary scanning
- 1 against rejection, letting the text pass
- 0 abstained
- 3 did not vote
The government line above concerns mandatory scanning; this vote concerned the voluntary regime. They are different questions, which is why both are shown. Source: roll-call vote 195775 as published by the European Parliament and compiled by HowTheyVote.eu; all 27 delegations side by side on the governments page.
Who decides in Slovakia
- Minister
- Matúš Šutaj Eštok, Minister of the Interior. Justice Minister Boris Susko. Slovakia voted against the mandate on 26 Nov 2025
- Ministry in charge
- Ministry of the Interior; Ministry of Justice
- Permanent representation
- Ambassador Juraj Nociar, Permanent Representative (Coreper II); Ambassador Monika Sopkovičová, Deputy Permanent Representative (Coreper I)
Timeline
- Council vote on Chat Control 1.0, the temporary rules. Slovakia: yes.
- European Parliament votes on rejecting Chat Control 1.0; the motion fails, the text passes. MEPs elected in Slovakia: 11 for rejection, 1 against, 0 abstained, 3 did not vote. source
- Recorded as against. Receipt: Vote against the mandate, 26 Nov 2025 (CTK) source
- Council negotiating mandate adopted in Coreper. Slovakia: no.
Sources
- Vote against the mandate, 26 Nov 2025 (CTK) (receipt)
- Interior Minister Sutaj Estok rejects mass surveillance mechanisms, TASR, 4 Sep 2025
- Council minutes, 12 Sep 2025, via netzpolitik.org
- Permanent Representation of the Slovak Republic to the EU, leadership
- Method: what the labels mean and where the population shares come from
This page is one of 27 records behind Where the 27 governments stand. Together the governments against hold 32.9 % of the EU population; a blocking minority needs more than 35 %.
Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0. Data for all 27: JSON · CSV. Found a mistake? Tell us; we correct openly and say what changed.
Cite as: Brussels Record, “Slovakia: position on Chat Control”, last checked 22 October 2026, https://brusselsrecord.com/member-states/slovakia/
