SLOVAKIA POLITICAL ROUNDUP DECEMBER 03, 2004

UNCLAS BRATISLAVA 001087

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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV MARR PREL LO
SUBJECT: SLOVAKIA POLITICAL ROUNDUP DECEMBER 03, 2004


SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED -- PROTECT ACCORDINGLY

Parliament Instructs GOS to Open Turkish Accession Talks
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1. (SBU) Parliament November 30 approved the MFA's draft
resolution instructing the GOS to adopt an EU common
position in favor of opening accession talks with Turkey.
MFA representatives and PM Dzurinda's foreign policy advisor
clarified to us that the caveat requiring "political
conditions" meant satisfying the Copenhagen criteria. The
only party opposed was the Christian Democrat Movement,
which in turn proposed a second resolution acknowledging
"the genocide of ARMENIAns in 1915, in which hundreds of
thousands of ARMENIAns who lived in the Ottoman Empire died
and considers it to be a crime against humanity." That
resolution also passed.

EuroAtlantic Security Conference Attracts Wide Audience
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2. (U) A conference on the new security environment in
Europe, organized by the Euro-Atlantic Center (a student
group at the foreign affairs faculty of Matej Bel University
in Banska Bystrica) brought together speakers from
throughout Europe, including the DCM who talked about NATO's
new priorities. The November 23-25 conference focused on
strategic security policy concepts, the nature of threats,
and defense transformation and attracted approximately 100
attendees.


3. (U) Serbian Ambassador to Slovakia Miroslav Kopecni told
participants that Serbia and Montenegro should join NATO at
the same time as its Balkan neighbors. To the visible
annoyance of the Croatian Ambassador who just finished
presenting the merits of Croatia's rapid accession, Kopecni
described Serbia as "the poor cousin but a member of the
European family" and warned against drawing new dividing
lines in the Balkans or isolating Serbia. He said Serbia
and Montenegro should join the PfP, NATO, and the EU "in
that sequence." Kopecni said almost 100 percent of Serbs
favor EU accession and more than 50 percent favor NATO
accession. He noted that only "right-wing organizations"
and "socialists" still oppose NATO accession and public
approval for NATO accession has been growing since KFOR
quelled the March riots in Kosovo.


4. (U) Rastislav Kacer, Slovak Ambassador to the U.S., said
he thought Europeans were increasingly apathetic towards
security. He said talk about the importance of security is
not reflected in declining defense budgets. He described
NATO as the best forum for defense planning and security
policy, adding that EU defense planning lacked the
"bureaucratic creativity" needed to increase defense
capabilities and avoid distorting political visions of
security.

Kidnapped Slovak Humanitarian Worker Freed
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5. (U) Kidnappers released Miriam Jevikova, a 28-year old
Slovak student, in late November. Jevikova was kidnapped in
June while working in North Ossetia for the Czech
Organization for Aid to Refugees (OPU). Media reports
credit the Russian intelligence service with securing her
release. The Russian federal police and Jevikova's family
have not provided details of the release despite some Czech
politicians calling for this information. Kidnappers
previously demanded a one million dollar ransom.

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