Unreconstructed Communists

UNCLAS BRATISLAVA 000688

SIPDIS


SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV LO
SUBJECT: Unreconstructed Communists



1. Sensitive but unclassified. Please protect accordingly.


2. (SBU)Poloffs met with Jozef Sevc (Phonetic: sheffts),
the head of the Communist Party of Slovakia (KSS),on 15
July at their party headquarters. After a 20 minute opening
monologue, Sevc finally yielded the floor for questions. He
proudly admitted that the KSS is an unreconstructed
Communist party that has limited appeal among the Slovak
electorate. He stated that his party attracts the elderly,
poor, and disenfranchised. Over 60 percent of KSS members
are over the age of 65, but he proudly noted that in the
past four years, the party had attracted 4,600 new members
under the age of 45 and that the KSS had 1,000 "comrades"
under the age of 25. Sevc added that his party would focus
on the younger generation in the next parliamentary
elections scheduled to be held in fall 2006. Sevc noted
that the KSS was disappointed that it did not receive enough
votes to be represented in the European Parliament.


3. Sevc was critical of U.S. visa policy toward Slovakia,
questioning why so many Slovaks are turned down. He noted
that his daughter had traveled to the U.S. twice as a
university student, but had been denied three times since
graduation. He noted that U.S. should soften its visa
rules, but respects the current state of affairs in light of
the threat of terrorism.


4. (SBU) Sevc was pleased that members of the U.S. Embassy
had requested the meeting, noting that the USG rarely met
with them. His monologue was peppered with language used by
the former regime, including remarks about U.S. hegemony and
the bourgeoisie. KSS members still address each other by
the title of comrade. Sevc is married to the daughter of
Vasil Bilak, who wrote the letter to the Soviet Union asking
for intervention in 1968. Sevc spoke no English, so Comrade
Blaha served as an interpreter. Blaha is 25 years old, with
two university degrees, his is an international secretary of
the KSS.


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