RELEASE OF SECRET POLICE FILES CONTINUES TO CAUSE

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRATISLAVA 000230 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/15/2015 TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR LO SUBJECT: RELEASE OF SECRET POLICE FILES CONTINUES TO CAUSE CONTROVERSY REF: A. BRATISLAVA 79 ¶B. BRATISLAVA 135 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Scott N. Thayer for reason 1.5(b). 1.(SBU) Parliament authorized the Institute of the National Memory to publish all communist secret police (StB) files of "collaborators,8 the highest level of StB informers. The Institute is in the process of publishing the files on the Internet by region, starting in eastern Slovakia. An unlikely coalition of church leaders and politicians recently advocated ending the file opening process before it reaches the Bratislava region. The Ecumenical Council of Churches claims public access to the files is damaging and should be ended. (NOTE: StB files reveal some church leaders also were communist collaborators.) Notable MPs like Vladimir Meciar and Robert Fico indicated they could potentially support the idea. Lutheran Bishop Julius Filo and the Catholic Church have opposed the closure. Director of the Institute of the National Memory, Jan Langos, told emboff that he does not think the move will gather momentum. ¶2. (SBU) Speaker of Parliament Pavol Hrusovsky (KDH) announced that he was registered as a &Candidate for Cooperation8 with the Communist secret police (StB). Hrusovsky says that he did not cooperate with the StB and has emphasized he was not registered as a &collaborator.8 Hrusovsky announced he will sue Markiza television, closely linked to Minister of Economy Pavol Rusko (ANO),for its broadcast of Hrusovsky,s admission. Hrusovsky says the broadcast labeled him a collaborator of the StB. (COMMENT: Hrusovsky,s distinction between &Candidate for Cooperation8 and &Collaborator8 is real and legitimate but easily lost on the public. His lawsuit announcement seems to be an attempt to bring this distinction to the fore and preemptively de-emphasize his involvement with the StB. END COMMENT.) ¶3. (U) Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the Kosice Technical University, Jaroslav Jarema, resigned. Jarema previously refused to resign after it was revealed that the StB registered him as a collaborator (Ref A). Two Vice Deans resigned in protest after Jarema refused to give up his position (Ref B). Jarema finally gave in to sustained pressure from students and colleagues. ¶4. (C) Langos publicly stated the Institute does not have the StB file of Archbishop Jan Sokol (Ref B). He said the Institute knows his file has not been destroyed. Langos said in a TV debate that politicians from the KDH and HZDS had Sokol,s file in their hands in the early nineties; Langos called on them to tell the public what was in the file. The Deputy Papal Nuncio suggested to Charge privately that it was "only natural" there be a file on Sokol, since his appointment as bishop during the communist era would only have been tolerated had there been some tacit or implicit commitment not to attempt to destabilize the regime, but that this is not the same as being an StB agent. ¶5. (C) Comment: Controversy over the StB files will continue for some time. Given the long period of time which transpired before their release, the acknowledged disapearance of material from files, and that they remained in control of intelligence services still largely staffed by former StB personnel until recently, there is legitimate concern among many regarding their accuracy and validity. On the other hand, the files that we have randomly selected to review on visits to the institute's archive appear to be carefully kept records that cover long periods and are unlikely to have been fabricated. THAYER NNNN