GAERC ISSUES: CODE OF CONDUCT STRONG ENOUGH;

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRATISLAVA 000923 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/10/2014 TAGS: PREL PARM CH LY TU EU LO SUBJECT: GAERC ISSUES: CODE OF CONDUCT STRONG ENOUGH; POLICY ON TURKEY UNDEFINED REF: A. STATE 214023 ¶B. BRATISLAVA 909 Classified By: Ambassador Ronald Weiser for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) In response to points raised from ref A, MFA European Correspondent Lubomir Rehak on October 6 told polec chief that the EU was strengthening the code of conduct regarding arms sales to make it more effective than in the past. He said member states were confident that it would suffice to prevent inappropriate arms sales to both China and Libya. He did not respond to arguments that lifting the embargoes would send the wrong messages to China, to Libya, and to arms dealers. ¶2. (C) Polec Chief used the opportunity to ask for a comment on Slovak politicians' recent statements of strong reservations about Turkish EU accession (ref B). Rehak said that before October 1, the MFA talking point was that Turkey would be welcome to join the EU once it fulfilled all the requirements. On the other hand, several Slovak political parties have strong ties with other conservative parties in the EU, who have been consistent in expressing strong opposition to Turkish membership. Prime Minister Dzurinda and Foreign Minister Kukan had made their statement on Turkey from the SDKU party headquarters "in their role as politicians, not as statesmen." Rehak believed the door was still open for a compromise that would set a date for negotiations to begin with Turkey, but which would allow the process to stop if Turkey failed to make the expected progress. In other words, if Turkey did not fulfill all the criteria, it would not be guaranteed EU membership. Rehak said that the MFA would soon draft a "government position," which would be sent to the cabinet for approval. Then it would go to Parliament for approval, at which point Parliament would mandate the position which the MFA should take on Turkey in December. (Comment: This would be one of the first test cases of the new law requiring the MFA to follow Parliament's instructions on issues before the EU. Although cumbersome, it would provide wide political cover for government leaders. End comment.) ¶3. (U) After the European Commission's report on Turkey was made public October 6, Prime Minister Dzurinda's SDKU party released a press statement calling the report a useful starting point for Decmber's EU summit discussions. It recognized Turkey's progress, as well as doubts about fulfilling all the necessary criteria in practice. It questioned the EU's absorbative capacity. The press statement emphasized as key that beginning negotiations was not tantamount to a commitment to accept Turkey as a member and noted that the Commission's stance was consistent with that of SDKU. SDKU confirmed that it would begin a poitical discussion among domestic political parties in the interest of reaching a wide consensus. WEISER NNNN