SLOVAKIA POLITICAL ROUNDUP DECEMBER 23, 2004

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRATISLAVA 001154

SIPDIS


STATE FOR L/LEI KEN PROPP, DOJ/OIA DEBORAH GAYNUS, AND
G/TIP JENNIFER TOPPING

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/21/2014
TAGS: PREL MARR PHUM LO
SUBJECT: SLOVAKIA POLITICAL ROUNDUP DECEMBER 23, 2004

REF: (A) STATE 269497 (B) BRATISLAVA 300

Classified By: CDA SCOTT THAYER FOR REASONS 1.5 (B) AND (D)

HZDS Considering Troop Increase for Iraq?
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1. (C) Michaela Blanarova, Assistant to HZDS Deputy Chairman
and Deputy Speaker of Parliament Viliam Veteska and HZDS
Foreign Policy Advisor, told emboffs December 16 that Veteska
is considering proposing an increase in the number of Slovak
deminers in Iraq. She did not have any further details and
noted Veteska has not thoroughly discussed this proposal
within his party and not at all outside of the party. The
current idea is to increase the Slovak contribution to OIF,
not the NATO training mission. (COMMENT: We are cautiously
optimistic about this claim. HZDS has liberalized since the
Meciar-era when the party was characterized by its double
speak. Emboffs noticed Blanarova seemed keen on telling us
what we wanted to hear. Working from talking points,
Blanarova only mentioned this idea off the cuff near the end
of the meeting. Such a HZDS proposal would be completely out
of line with the party's political base. END COMMENT.)

Possibile New Extradition Treaty
--------------

2. (C) During a farewell call on Justice Minister Daniel
Lipsic, the Ambassador expressed hope that a new bilateral
extradition treaty would allow for the extradition of Slovak
nationals to the U.S., even if it was conditioned as in other
EU countries. Lipsic replied that he had no objection to the
idea. (Comment: This is in contrast to what we have heard
from working-level contacts at the MOJ, who said that
extraditing nationals to the U.S. would be politically very
difficult for Slovakia.) In its first extradition ever of
nationals, the GOS handed over two Slovaks to Austrian
authorities in early December to stand trial on murder
charges. We have delivered the proposed text for a new
extradition treaty (ref A).

Labor Minister Kanik Survives No-Confidence Vote
-------------- --

3. (U) Ludovit Kanik, Minister of Labor and Social Affairs,
survived a vote of no confidence on December 14. Of the 134
MPs present, 66 voted in favor, 64 against, three officially
abstained, and one did not vote. The vote required a
parliamentary majority of 76 votes. The strongest opposition
party SMER proposed the motion, arguing that Kanik is
politically responsible for the mismanaged pension reform,
which will require citizens to deposit their money in private
investments without a guaranteed yield. SMER also criticized
Kanik for abuse of office. Kanik asked the Social Insurance
Company to pardon his firm's penalties for not paying social
insurance benefits to his employees between 1997 and 2001.
SMER's initiative was supported by HZDS and the Free Forum.
Subsequently, parliament passed a proposal binding the GOS to
provide full information to citizens about possible risks
they face when entering the capitalization stage of the
pension system.

Secret Communist Era Files Revealed

SIPDIS
--------------

4. (U) On December 9, emboffs got a behind-the-scenes tour
from Jan Langos and his staff at the Institute for the Memory
of the Nation, the GOS organization responsible for
administering the secret policy archive. At the end of
November, the organization began publishing indexes of files
about former StB (secret service) agents and collaborators.
The first set of files made public are from Kosice, the StB
headquarters for Eastern Slovakia. Files from Bratislava
(Western Slovakia) and Banska Bystrica (Central Slovakia)
will be published in 2005. The Institute's website hits have
grown a hundred-fold since the information became available
on-line. The media have reported everyday about current
public figures who have records of collaborating with the
StB, including some high-level officials from governing
coalition parties.


5. (U) Emboffs toured the archives and saw the future reading
room where researchers and ordinary citizens will have access
to the original files. Emboffs observed the high-tech but
labor-intensive process of digitizing the paper and
microfiche files and editing the electronic version to remove
data about innocent third parties and personal information
such as birth dates health status, and home addresses.
Langos' dedication to sharing information about how the

communist regime spied on its own population has not abated,
despite physical attacks on him and his wife (ref B) and
continuous threats from anonymous letter writers.


6. (U) Langos said the 2005 state budget would not cut the
Institute's funds for the coming year, nor would it increase
them for research and publication activities, which the law
mandates they carry out. The organization will be able to
continue its work at current levels.

World War II-era Restitution
--------------

7. (U) Langos mentioned that the Institute for the Memory of
the Nation is charged with opening secret files from the
communist regime and the war-time Slovak state that
collaborated with the Nazis. There are detailed accounts of
activities from the World War II period, including lists of
property confiscations. (Comment: We are not optimistic
regarding the contribution these archives might make to
restitution cases. The Jewish Community already searched the
National archives to compile information for restitution
claims. In addition, the restitution bill being re-worked in
parliament concerns only agricultural lands and buildings
located on these lands; it was mainly drafted to satisfy the
needs of Catholic church which owned farms and other real
estate in the past that have not yet been returned. Jewish
Community representatives say the legislation concerns their
community only marginally. End comment.)

Foreign Policy Debate
--------------

8. (U) On Decembar 10, two elite panels from the Slovak
foreign policy establishment discussed the guiding principles
of Slovak foreign policy. Jozef Banas, SDKU MP, defined the
debate as a question of values versus pragmatism and argued
for a pragmatic foreign policy. He advocated more active
Slovak participation in NATO and said Slovak foreign policy
debates requires greater research and substance. Major print
and broadcast media representatives agreed, saying they do
not report on global issues because politicians and think
tanks refuse to comment on these issues. NGO representatives
present cited the lack of grants available to fund research
to form intelligent opinions.


9. (U) Urban Rusnak, author of the MFA's "Mid-Term Strategy
for Foreign Policy until 2015," argued for a moral-pragmatic
balance in foreign policy, saying the GOS should focus on two
to three priorities -- Ukraine, the western Balkans, and
perhaps Russia. Rusnak and Banas agreed that the GOS should
prepare opinions only on matters of immediate interest due to
limited resources. Milan Nic of the Pontis Foundation said
the GOS should formulate positions on all EU debates, as the
unanimous voting mechanism gives the GOS a veto.


10. (U) Martin Butora, former Slovak Ambassador to the U.S.
and president of the Institute for Public Affairs, argued
Slovakia must develop an institutional capacity to contribute
to foreign policy debates, especially on human rights and
democracy issues. He denied the competition between a
values-based and pragmatic strategic outlook, noting that
democracy and human rights promotion has economic and
commercial advantages as proven over the past fifteen years
by the Visegrad-4 countries. Butora said a Slovak
institution like the Helsinki Commission with governmental
support but an independent character would build the
institutional capacity necessary to support democracy and
civil society abroad.

Ambassador Raises TIP with Justice Minister
--------------

11. (C) During a farewell call on Justice Minister Daniel
Lipsic, the Ambassador raised the need for a national action
plan against trafficking in persons. Lipsic described some
of the measures his ministry has taken to combat TIP,
including raising penalties for trafficking children.
Further details to follow septel.
THAYER


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