The study deals with the historical determinants, concepts and practical implementation of the foreign policy of the Slovak Republic in the first decade of its existence (from its establishment in 1993 to Slovakia's accession to the NATO and EU in 2004). Author examines the external and internal factors shaping the Slovak foreign policy, i.e. in particular the dynamics, which on the one hand resulted from the attractiveness of NATO and the EU (and of the Western orientation in general) but on the other hand was based on the anti-liberal and nationalist political traditions and tendencies that were very significant in Slovakia in the respective period. and Článek zahrnuje poznámkový aparát pod čarou