Chinese propaganda seeks allies in Slovak media landscape, disinformation outlets already on board

"There's no propaganda!" This is how Štefan Nižňanský, director of the public broadcaster Slovak Television (STV) from 2008 to 2010, described the Chinese state-run television channel CCTVthat he had watched during his stay in China. "During my week-long stay, I watched CCTV, the state television broadcaster with nineteen channels, in my room at a luxury hotel. There was nothing about the Russian-Ukrainian conflict (which has been dominating the news in our country for three years now)," he reported in the Slovak disinformation magazine, Extra Plus. The state media in China is directly controlled by the propaganda apparatus of the Chinese Communist Party, whose role is to shape public opinion in line with party policy. It is, therefore, naive to consider them independent media outlets. Nevertheless, Nižňanský admires them.

"I strongly recommend that our mainstream media and the Czech mainstream media learn what objective and independent reporting should look like," wrote Nižňanský. He was also impressed by Chinese TV presenters: "They stick strictly to the facts and ask their guests clearly formulated questions relevant to the topic. There's no commentary, no interruptions, no imposing their own opinions, no propaganda!"

As well as being a contributor to Extra Plus, Nižňanský has also been a member of the council for the Slovak Audiovisual Fund since 2024, an entity that allocates state funding for films and film festivals. When asked whether Nižňanský paid for his "luxury" trip to China or whether it was financed by Chinese resources, Extra Plus did not respond.

An interview full of compliments

Cai Ge has been the Chinese ambassador to Slovakia since 2023. More than a year ago, Lenka Mayerová, editor-in-chief of Extra Plus, interviewed him. Her obsequiousness towards the diplomat is illustrated by the questions she asked him:

• The PRC [People's Republic of China] is trying to be a mediator and is interested in ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Ukraine and the West reject all proposals for peace from Russia, but also from China. How do you expect the situation to develop?
• The West is trying to impose liberalism on every sphere and is suppressing traditional values, particularly in Eastern European countries. It seems that the PRC is quite successful in resisting the decadence of the West. How are you managing to protect morality and preserve traditional Chinese values?
• The West is currently facing problems with corrupt practices. How do you tackle corruption at the level of state power structures?
• China is one of the oldest civilisations in the world. Out of the vast number of its archaeological treasures, the Terracotta Warriors and the Great Wall of China are best known to the average citizen of the Slovak Republic. Can you tell us more about the development of culture and state structures in what is now the People's Republic of China?

The Chinese ambassador is not only asked friendly questions in Extra Plus, but is also given considerable space to express himself. In November 2025, the ambassador published an article stating that China will "stand firmly on the right side of history" and offer a new and better model of "global governance" with the aim of building "lasting peace, universal security, shared prosperity, openness, inclusiveness, purity, and beauty."

In January this year, the Chinese ambassador announced a new five-year plan, which is said to be a great opportunity for Slovakia as well. The magazine reported on the ambassador's meetings with government officials, such as Sports Minister Rudolf Huliak, Culture Minister Martina Šimkovičová, and Parliament Speaker Richard Raši. Diplomats from other countries do not receive as much coverage in Extra Plus. The editor-in-chief did not respond to the question of whether the editorial team has a paid partnership with the Chinese embassy.

Extra Plus is a disinformation magazine known for its nostalgia for the era of the former Slovak Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar in the 1990s. Before the last parliamentary elections in 2023, Extra Plus promoted current Prime Minister Robert Fico's Smer-SSD party, and ahead of the 2024 presidential election, it ran a major campaign in support of President Peter Pellegrini. At the time, people across Slovakia received the magazine in their mailboxes for free. Pellegrini claimed he did not pay for it. The editorial staff did not explain where the money for the campaign came from. According to the database Finstat, the company made a profit of only 5,400 EUR in 2024, so it could not have paid for this out of its own resources.

The editor-in-chief at Extra Plus has previously run for office with the Slovak Nation's Work (PSN) and the Communist Party of Slovakia (KSS). Her publishing house has released books by Smer-SSD politicians Ľuboš Blaha and Jana Vaľová.

China is more successful when it comes to disinformation media

Beijing is trying to shape the narrative surrounding China in a way that aligns with the interests of the Communist Party of China. "China uses a variety of tools to achieve this, ranging from publishing statements by Chinese diplomats, establishing international media partnerships for content sharing, collaborating with influencers, to inviting journalists on paid trips to China with the aim of presenting an exclusively positive image of the country," explains Matej Šimalčík, an expert on China and Executive Director of the Central European Institute of Asian Studies (CEIAS). Last year, 12 members of parliament and Eduard Chmelár - a former advisor to Prime Minister Robert Fico and member of the Ethics Committee of the public broadcaster STVR- visited China. All expenses were covered by China.

China is also attempting to use Slovak media for its influence operations. "China is essentially trying to establish cooperation with all media outlets, whether mainstream or disinformation-based," says Šimalčík.

"While we generally observe a significant degree of internal resilience in mainstream media, disinformation outlets are, in principle, far more open to uncritically adopting Chinese content. There are several reasons for this, ranging from weak fact-checking processes in newsrooms to shared values. In addition to publishing explicitly positive content about China and propaganda, we often see disinformation outlets place China within a broader anti-Western and anti-European discourse," the expert adds.

Slovakia's intelligence agency, the Slovak Information Service (SIS) has also previously drawn attention to Chinese activities in the country. "The Chinese diaspora and local media are also known to have been used for propaganda. The particular risk factor of Chinese propaganda activities lies in their close connection to Chinese intelligence services," the SIS wrote in its 2019 activity report.

Other media outlets spreading propaganda

China does not rely solely upon the magazine Extra Plus. It has also long used the website Nové slovo to spread propaganda. This site has previously published articles by former Chinese ambassadors Lin Lin and Sun Lijie. In November 2025, Ambassador Cai Ge published a commentary on Nové slovo stating that Taiwan belongs to China.

"Thank you for your questions, but we see no reason to respond to them," replied the website's editor, Oľga Gáfriková.

The website Hlavný denník has also published several articles by Chinese officials. These are often published under the name of the site's editor-in-chief, Ivan Mihale.

"This is a friendly collaboration. It's not paid content," Mihale said. "We don't publish posts from other government officials simply because they haven't asked us to. If they did ask, we'd be happy to do so," he added. The editor-in-chief described Denník N's questions on this topic as "Gestapo-like practices from a bygone era."

The leading daily newspaper has recently faced criticism on the grounds that a fictitious journalist writing under the name Aneta Leitmanová had been contributing to it.

China is also spreading its views through the Veci verejné website. The site is run by Michala Gánovská, who has close ties to the MP of the Slovak National Party (SNS), Roman Michelko. The portal was co-financed through advertisements by the state-owned company Tipos. A banner campaign for the SNS is currently running on the site.

However, this is not the end of the list of media outlets spreading Chinese propaganda in Slovakia. Additional articles and uncritical interviews have also been published by Dav Dva, Zem a vek, TVorba and others.

Chinese Ambassador Cai Ge is very active. He meets with ministers, members of parliament, and representatives of local governments, universities, schools, the Slovak Academy of Sciences, and Slovakia's oldest national cultural institution, Matica slovenská. "The Chinese Embassy in Slovakia is currently much more active than in the past," says Šimalčík.

"In my opinion, there are two main reasons for this. First and foremost, Ambassador Cai Ge is fluent in Slovak, which allows him to communicate more effectively with Slovak stakeholders at various levels. This sets him apart significantly from his predecessor, who not only did not speak Slovak but also had difficulty communicating publicly in English. He therefore had to rely heavily on an interpreter," he explains.

According to the expert, the second reason is the current stance of government policy towards China, which is friendly and open compared to the previous election cycle. "On the one hand, this encourages the embassy's activities, and at the same time creates an environment in which it is more difficult for non-governmental actors, such as universities, to reject potentially problematic aspects of cooperation with China," says Šimalčík.

Interview in Trend magazine

Last year, the business weekly, Trend, also faced criticism after publishing an interview with the Chinese ambassador on China's relations with the EU without naming the interviewer. The embassy described it as a "written interview," even though that was not the case.

"It wasn't an interview but a commentary in which the author asked [himself] questions and answered them," explains Trend's editor-in-chief, Ronald Ižip. "The entire interview was provided by the Chinese side," he said, adding that it was not a paid collaboration.

Trend magazine also served China well in 2019, when protests in Hong Kong were at their peak. At that time, the magazine published an article by Chinese Ambassador Lin Lin, who accused the demonstrators of terrorism and described the protests as being supported by foreign forces.

In 2024, Trend was published with a special China-focused supplement produced in collaboration with the Chinese Embassy.

"It's increasingly clear that propaganda is becoming a tool in the hands of virtually any politician. Based in part on the reactions to that article, we have therefore decided that we will no longer publish political commentary in Trendand will focus more on expert and critical articles," added Ižip.

The state agency trying to pay the media

The Chinese news agency CCTV+ is part of China's state-run television network CCTV. In January of this year, it made a cooperation offer to Slovak media outlets, allowing them to use its videos free of charge. The agency also offers commercial opportunities that allow media outlets to generate revenue. "You can generate revenue by distributing the news content we recommend," the agency promises.

"If you're interested in working with us, your media outlet would be the first in Slovakia to partner with CCTV+," said Lindzy Zhang of CCTV+. "We organise media events from time to time and would be happy to invite you to China," she added.

Denník Nhas no plans to collaborate with CCTV+, but it is likely that some websites will find the offer appealing. Šimalčík explains that, to a certain extent, the media need access to Chinese news agency news. "However, when reproducing such news, it is necessary to approach them with a certain degree of caution to prevent the potential spread of propaganda or disinformation," he warns.

Media outlets typically pay news agencies for their information services. If, in contrast, CCTV+ were to pay media outlets, that would be a highly unusual model, the China expert explains. "It could be particularly appealing to disinformation outlets, which China could finance in this way," Šimalčík warns.

Article published on 6 March 2026 by Denník N.