SLOVAKIA POLITICAL ROUNDUP JANUARY 07, 2005

UNCLAS BRATISLAVA 000017

SIPDIS


SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL ECON PHUM LO IZ
SUBJECT: SLOVAKIA POLITICAL ROUNDUP JANUARY 07, 2005


SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED -- PROTECT ACCORDINGLY

New NATO Training Mission Iraq Proposal
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1. (SBU) Lubomir Cano, Director of the Security Policy
Department at the MFA, said the MOD and MFA have agreed upon
a proposal to send five Slovak soldiers to the NATO Training
Mission - Iraq (NTM-I). The original parliamentary mandate
allows up to 110 non-combat personnel to be deployed under
Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). However, due to a lack of
qualified personnel in specific roles in the Slovak Armed
Forces, the Slovak contribution to OIF is currently at 105
soldiers, and this proposal would raise the Slovak
commitment to the maximum level. The NTM-I proposal
requires cabinet and parliamentary approval (currently
scheduled for January 12),since the original Slovak mandate
specifically allows soldiers to be deployed only as a part
of OIF.


2. (SBU) Cano said the MFA-MOD consensus did not consider
more than five additional soldiers even though a new
parliamentary mandate would be required in any case. In a
Radio Slovakia New Years address, PM Mikulas Dzurinda said
he still supports the decision to send Slovak troops to
Iraq. He reaffirmed the need for Slovakia to contribute to
European and global security but did not mention a possible
NTM-I contribution.

Secret Police Archives Prompt Resignation

SIPDIS
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4. (U) State Secretary of the Ministry of Construction and
SDKU MP Jan Hurny resigned due to allegations of cooperation
with the Communist-era secret police (StB). The Institute
of the Memory of the Nation published the secret police
files of all former agents six weeks ago. (NOTE: "Agent"
was the highest-level collaborator with the secret police.)
Hurny's file include his signature, which he claims is
forged. Hurny's denial received much media criticism, and
he is the first senior Slovak state official to resign due
to alleged StB collaboration. SDKU chairman and PM Mikulas
Dzurinda accepted Hurny's resignation, and coalition
partners welcomed it. KDH chairman and Speaker of
Parliament Pavol Hrusovsky said Hurny's case should become a
precedent, and SMK leader Bela Bugar said Hurny made a good
decision as he exposed his party to criticism. ANO's
Lubomir Lintner said Hurny should have stepped down sooner.


5. (SBU) Shortly before the files became public, SDKU MP
Jozef Banas admitted he was a StB agent. He says that his
StB file clearly shows that he never hurt anyone, and he
does not intend to resign. Banas, who was recently elected
vice president of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, said he
does not consider the files a trustworthy source of
information. (COMMENT: Banas largely avoided the media
controversy that Hurny attracted by admitting and explaining
his former collaboration with the secret police before the
files became public knowledge.)

Slovakia Takes Lead of CEI
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6. (U) Slovakia has assumed the 2005 chairmanship of the
Central European Initiative (CEI). The intergovernmental
organization attempts to aid aspiring EU states with their
economic and democratic transitions and EU negotiations
through parliamentary, governmental, and business contacts.
CEI is comprised of seven EU member states (Austria, the
Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, and
Slovenia) and 10 aspiring member states (Albania, Belarus,
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia,
Moldova, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, and Ukraine).


7. (U) The GOS will focus the CEI's agenda in 2005 on two
areas: the western Balkans and Ukraine, Belarus, and
Moldova. It will attempt to prevent the marginalization of
these states and strengthen their regional identity. The
GOS will also host a May Foreign Ministers meeting, a
November Prime Ministers meeting, and several development
assistance programs such as a "know-how exchange," primarily
targeting economic transformation issues. The GOS will
launch a webpage (available in English) in mid-January:
www.sei.sk.
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