NEW NBU DIRECTOR FINALLY APPOINTED

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRATISLAVA 000102 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/29/2014 TAGS: PGOV PINR LO NBU SUBJECT: NEW NBU DIRECTOR FINALLY APPOINTED REF: BRATISLAVA 03 1079 CLASSIFIED BY: AMB. RONALD WEISER FOR REASONS 1.4 B AND D ¶1. (C) AFTER MONTHS OF COALITION WRANGLING, THE SLOVAK CABINET APPOINTED AUREL UGOR AS DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL SECURITY OFFICE (NBU) ON JANUARY 28. PRIOR TO THIS APPOINTMENT, UGOR WORKED IN THE MILITARY INTELLIGENCE SERVICE (VSS),SERVING AS THE DIRECTOR OF THE FIRST DEPARTMENT SINCE OCTOBER 2003. THERE HAS BEEN SOME CONFUSION IN THE PRESS AS TO WHICH BRANCH OF MILITARY INTELLIGENCE HE WORKED FOR, BUT THE SLOVAK INFORMATION SERVICE AND THE MILITARY DEFENSIVE INTELLIGENCE SERVICE (VOS) CONFIRMED TO EMBOFF THAT UGOR WAS EMPLOYED BY THE VSS. UGOR TOLD THE PRESS THAT HE INTENDS TO CONCENTRATE ON THE LAW ON CLASSIFIED INFORMATION AND WHO WILL HAVE ACCESS TO IT. HE PLANS TO MEET WITH HIS COUNTERPARTS FROM THE OTHER INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES SOON. ¶2. (C) UGOR'S NOMINATION CAME AS A SURPRISE TO EVERYONE WHO HAS BEEN WATCHING THE NBU. THERE WAS ONE PRESS PIECE A WEEK AGO THAT MENTIONED UGOR AND HIS NAME RESURFACED ONLY A DAY BEFORE THE CABINET MET TO APPROVE HIS NOMINATION. ACCORDING TO LOCAL PRESS, ANO PROPOSED UGOR AS THE NEW DIRECTOR, BUT HE DOES NOT KNOW ANO CHAIRMAN PAVOL RUSKO. UGOR WAS SUPPORTED BY IVETA HENZELYOVA, AN ANO DEPUTY FROM KOSICE WHO HAS REFUSED TO COMMENT ON HOW SHE KNOWS UGOR. (NOTE: HENZELYOVA DOES SIT ON THE SIS OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE.) A LOCAL NEWSPAPER REPORTED THAT ANO HAD APPROACHED SEVERAL OTHER NBU EMPLOYEES OFFERING TO SUPPORT A BID FOR THE DIRECTOR POSITION IN RETURN FOR GRANTING SECURITY CLEARANCES TO ANO LOYALISTS. GIVEN HIS RELATIVELY LOW LEVEL POSITION AT THE VSS, EMBOFFS HAVE NOT YET MET UGOR. ¶3. (U) ACCORDING TO PRESS ACCOUNTS, UGOR WAS BORN IN 1966 IN PRESOV. HE STUDIED AT THE HIGHER MILITARY ACADEMY IN VYSKOVA, IN THE DEPARTMENT OF MILITARY ECONOMICS, GRADUATING IN 1990. HE ALSO COMPLETED POST-GRADUATE STUDIES, SPECIALIZING IN INTELLIGENCE. HE WAS NEVER A MEMBER OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY. UPON GRADUATION, HE BEGAN WORKING IN THE MINISTRY OF DEFENSE IN MILITARY INTELLIGENCE. ACCORDING TO THE PRESS, HE HAS A TOP SECRET CLEARANCE AS WELL AS A NATO CLEARANCE. HE HOLDS THE RANK OF COLONEL. UGOR SPEAKS ENGLISH AND RUSSIAN. HE IS MARRIED WITH ONE CHILD. ¶4. (C) COMMENT: THERE HAVE BEEN ONLY RUMORS AS TO WHY UGOR WAS SELECTED. CHRISTIAN DEMOCRAT PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE FRANTISEK MIKLOSKO TOLD EMBOFF THAT PRIME MINISTER DZURINDA HAD AGREED TO SUPPORT CANDIDATES BACKED BY COALITION PARTNERS, AS LONG AS THERE WOULD BE SPACES FOR SDKU LOYALISTS IN THEIR INSTITUTIONS. IN ADDITION, DZURINDA SOUGHT ASSURANCES FROM KDH THAT FORMER NBU DIRECTOR MOJZIS WOULD NOT WORK FOR VLADIMIR PALKO AT THE MINISTRY OF INTERIOR. ACCORDING TO PRESS ACCOUNTS AND MOJZIS, HE WILL WORK AT THE MOI AFTER HE COMPLETES HIS COMPULSORY MILITARY SERVICE AT THE END OF FEBRUARY. MOJZIS IS SUPPOSED TO WORK IN A SMALL ANALYTICAL GROUP UNDER THE AUSPICES OF JOZEF SATEK'S NEW ANTI-CORRUPTION UNIT. IF MOJZIS WORKS FOR SATEK, ANOTHER POWER STRUGGLE BETWEEN DZURINDA AND THE KDH IS CERTAIN TO ERUPT. WEISER NNNN