The Slovak Republic is in Central Europe. Neighboring countries are the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Hungary to the south, Ukraine to the east, and Poland to the north. Because of its 50-kilometer (31-mile) frontier with Austria, Slovakia also shares a border with the European Union.

The Slovak Republic is a member of the Council of Europe, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the Partnership for Peace, the United Nations, and the Visegrad Four (along with the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland), which promotes economic integration in Central Europe. It is an associate member of the European Union.

Slovakia participates in the activities of two Euro-regions: The Carpathian Euro-region (Hungary, Poland, Rumania, Slovakia, and Ukraine) and the Tatra Euro-region (Poland and Slovakia). The present government does not support official Slovak participation in the Carpathian Euro-region.