Slovakia lives in two security realities at once. In part of the public imagination, threats feel distant or inflated; mistrust of NATO and the U.S. endures and a considerable part of society is receptive to pro-Kremlin narratives. Yet the country is simultaneously a frontline neighbour of Ukraine, bound to collective defence through NATO and deeply embedded in the EU. Slovakia also embodies the EU’s wider dilemma. On paper, it is firmly integrated in NATO and EU structures, entwined in reality. However, in the minds of its citizens, it remains estranged, hesitant to act decisively and vulnerable to the Kremlin’s disinformation. Unless Europe bridges this gap, it risks having strong armies, but weak societies. Slovakia’s lesson is clear: deterrence requires not only tanks and treaties, but also trust. Winning the battle for hearts and minds is as urgent as any arms race. Slovakia’s case is a bellwether of how fragile European unity can become when public opinion drifts so far from security realities that it turns into a strategic vulnerability. Slovakia’s case illustrates the strategic ambivalence of a state caught between frontline geography and divided public sentiment, in line with a ‘yellow’ traffic light or medium threat perception: it is taking steps to defend itself, yet a considerable part of the public remains unsure whether the danger is real or imagined.