SLOVAKIA POLITICAL ROUNDUP, MAY 2005

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRATISLAVA 000434

SIPDIS


FOR EUR/NCE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/02/2015
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM PARM KCOR KIRF LO EXBS UN
SUBJECT: SLOVAKIA POLITICAL ROUNDUP, MAY 2005

REF: BRATISLAVA 314

SMER BECOMES MEMBER OF SOCIALIST INTERNATIONAL
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1. (C) Opposition political party Smer (reftel) met its
long-held goal and became a member of Socialist International
(SI). Smer MP Edita Angyalova, a former IV participant and
one of Slovakia's youngest politicians, downplayed Smer's
membership in SI, and noted that if the party were to become
more socialist she would leave immediately, as would others.
The average age of the Smer MPs is quite young, and according
to Angyalova, they are too young to be branded as Socialists
or to support causes they don't believe in. However, she
said, the party's membership in Socialist International was
necessary; there are no European parties that represent the
"middle ground" that Smer occupies, and the right of the
spectrum was already occupied by coalition parties.


2. (C) Angyalova is mostly engaged in social issues
concerning employment-related legislation, the Vatican
treaty, and issues concerning young Slovaks, but finds that
she is frequently attacked by coalition parties as
propagating "radical left" ideas. Despite this criticism,
she feels Smer's proposals are not any different from those
found in Germany or France. In her opinion, public
discussion and political dialogue is at a very "low level" in
Slovakia, and lately Smer has found it difficult to react to
the constant attacks on party leader Robert Fico (which
Angyalova described as "simple name calling"). Angyalova is
continually shocked by the lack of professionalism in
Parliament and the coarse words that are exchanged in the
halls.

SLOVAKIA CONVICTS ITS FIRST MP ON CORRUPTION CHARGES
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3. (U) On May 9, Slovakia's judicial system handed down its
first criminal conviction of a sitting member of Parliament.
HZDS MP Gabriel Karlin, who was caught in November 2003
accepting a USD 16,800 kickback from a contractor in Banska
Bystrica, was sentenced to one year in prison and a USD 3,333
fine. This marks the first successful prosecution of a high
ranking official for corruption, though Karlin immediately
appealed the conviction. Milan Mraz, Karlin's alleged
accomplice in the corruption affair, had his case dismissed
from the district court because of a lack of evidence.

TRACKER SYSTEM HELPS GOS MONITOR TRADE OF SENSITIVE GOODS
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4. (SBU) Frantisek Babuska, head of the Ministry of
Economy's Department of Sensitive Goods Trading Management,
described GOS use of the "Tracker" export control and
licensing system it received from the USG in April 2002. We
recently provided an upgrade to the Tracker system, and will
provide additional training in July. Babuska hopes the new
system, which is more "user-friendly" than the GOS' previous
system, will allow the Ministry and the Customs Directorate
to develop a database of the quantity and types of sensitive
goods actually exported from Slovakia.


5. (SBU) The current Slovak system of export controls meets
EU standards, and Babuska said the Ministry receives roughly
600 applications for licenses each year for civilian
materials, and 600 applications for military materials. In
addition to the Ministry of Economy, several agencies
participate in the process of reviewing individual
applications for approval or denial, including the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of the
Interior, National Security Office, and the Customs
Directorate. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has veto power
over licensing for export of sensitive goods.

SLOVAKIA PREPARING FOR UNSC SEAT
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6. (C) Oksana Tomova, Director of the UN Department at the
MFA, told Poloffs that Slovakia is dedicating extra resources
to its UN Mission in New York in anticipation of a Security
Council (UNSC) seat in 2006. Tomova said Slovakia is eager
to demonstrate that it "is ready to handle all items on the
UN agenda." An additional six diplomats will work at the UN
Mission. Funding has been approved for the first six months,
the MFA is still seeking additional funding to keep this
surge capacity going for the remainder of Slovakia's UNSC
tenure. Tomova said the biggest challenge was an increased
emphasis on Africa, noting that "70 percent of the Council's
agenda is Africa, and Slovakia only has three Embassies on
that continent."

POLICE BREAK UP MAFIA FUNERAL

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7. (U) The April 28 funeral of assassinated mafioso Jozef
Estok in the eastern city Kosice resulted in a show of force
by the police, as the Police Chief asserted that the funeral
constituted an "illegal gathering" that had not been reported
and sanctioned in advance. The authorities called in several
buses full of police academy recruits to disperse the crowd
of over 500 people attending the funeral; they later deployed
police dogs and even water cannons to force people from the
cemetery. hile Justice Minister Daniel Lipsic said he
supported the action taken by the police and noted that the
police action resulted in several important arrests of mafia
figures, several attorneys and activists have noted that
funerals are rarely considered public gathering requiring
government permits. The father of the late Estok filed a
complaint with the General Prosecutor's office.

SLOVAKIA NEXT BEST THING TO HEAVEN?
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8. (C) Slovakia's most recent census shows that over 80
percent of Slovaks are practicing Christians, and some church
leaders have indicated to Emboffs that they prefer it that
way. An interlocutor from the Papal Nuncio (who previously
served in Sudan and Israel) told Poloffs that for a Vatican
Representative, Slovakia is "paradise," as the pro-Catholic
government "is proactive on our issues." When asked about
the recent lack of momentum on a Vatican-supported
conscientious objector law (which would have excused
Catholics from performing work they deemed contrary to their
faith, and appears to have stalled in Parliament),the
Monsignor shrugged and said simply "if not here in Slovakia,
forget it."


9. (C) Meanwhile, the head of Slovakia's Ecumenical Council
told Emboffs that the organization would not be opposed to
working with Slovakia's relatively small and unorganized
Muslim community, but that it is important for Muslims and
other religions here to remember that "Slovakia is Christian
country, and that they are guests here... We do not oppose
their presence, but we don't want to see Mosques popping up
everywhere." He did not elaborate on the status of
Slovakia's historic Jewish population.
THAYER


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