SLOVAKIA POLITICAL ROUNDUP, OCTOBER 11, 2005

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRATISLAVA 000835

SIPDIS


FOR EUR/NCE AND G/TIP

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/06/2015
TAGS: PREL PGOV SMIG PHUM KDEM SOCI LO
SUBJECT: SLOVAKIA POLITICAL ROUNDUP, OCTOBER 11, 2005

REF: BRATISLAVA 755

Classified By: DCM Lawrence R. Silverman for Reasons 1.4 (B) and (D).

IS NEW POLITICAL PARTY TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE?
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1. (SBU) Despite the announcement that a group of former
ANO MPs lead by Lubomir Lintner will form a new political
party, other politicians -- including members of the
coalition who work closely with Lintner -- feel it is "too
late" to begin a new party. Lintner, never considered a
particularly dynamic political leader, may succeed in
creating a new party, but its chances of rising from the
ashes of ANO to meet the parliamentary threshold are slim to
none.

KANIK AND SDKU: A PAIR OF STAR CROSSED LOVERS
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2. (C) In an October 4 courtesy call just 24 hours before
he announced his resignation, Minister of Labor Ludovit Kanik
(a member of the Democratic Party, or DS) told Ambassador
that DS was planning an official merger with SDKU in the near
future, even though there is some internal division about
whether or not this is the right path down which to proceed.
SDKU, whose polling numbers have remained low in recent
months, needs any ally it can get before the 2006 elections,
and will welcome the declaration of support. Meanwhile, the
DS presidium finds Kanik's vision unacceptable; they have
called for an extraordinary meeting on October 6 to discuss
the possibility, and recently elevated a staunch opponent of
the merger to First Vice Chairman (making him the second in
command behind Kanik). Local DS clubs in Bratislava, Kosice,
and Piestany have also expressed their opposition to becoming
part of SDKU.

SMK MAY TRY TO KEEP FRIENDS CLOSE, AND SMER EVEN CLOSER
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3. (C) Despite the message given to the Ambassador by
Deputy Prime Minister Pal Csaky that the coalition would
consider working with opposition leader Robert Fico if it
meant staying in power (under what Csaky described as a "keep
your friends close and your enemies even closer"),SDKU MPs
gave a different message to the Ambassador. MP Roman Vavrik
told the Ambassador that he would be unable to look his son
in the eye if he worked together with Fico; Milan Hort, a
close friend and partner of Prime Minister Dzurinda, went a
step further, telling the Ambassador it was not a possibility
and projecting some of the personality conflict between
Dzurinda and Fico into the conversation. Frustrated by the
favorable press coverage given to Fico and the opposition,
Hort said that the media was "Fico's rectal probe."

SLOVAKIA JOINS TASK FORCE ON HOLOCAUST EDUCATION
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4. (C) Slovakia recently announced that it will request
full membership in the Task Force for International
Cooperation on Holocaust Education, an international group in
which Slovakia has participated as an observer since 1998.
Slovakia, whose lack of ethnic diversity and lingering
problems with fascist and nationalist political parties has
made it difficult to shed its image as Hitler's wartime ally,
likely sees this as an important way of demonstrating that
the current government does not support hate and intolerance.
Contacts in the Jewish community told us they were pleased
by the announcement.

TRAFFICKING POLICE BACK IN THE BUDGET
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5. (SBU) Emerging from a rocky debate within the Ministry
of Finance, the proposal to train and fund an additional 14
police officers dedicated to trafficking in persons will be
included in next year's GOS budget proposal. The additional
officers -- financed this year by surplus funds by the
Ministry of Interior -- would be based in the border regions
and will focus on investigating and breaking up suspected
trafficking rings.

NATIONALIST PARTY CHIEF DECLARED "ENEMY OF THE YEAR" BY NGO
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6. (U) Chairman of the Slovak Nationalist Party (SNS) and
Mayor of Zilina Jan Slota received the dubious distinction of
being named "Enemy of the Year" for ignoring the Free Access
to Information law in Slovakia (the Slovak equivalent of
FOIA). The award, given by Open Society Foundation and the
NGO Alliance for Support of Local Democracy, highlighted the
failure of Slota to turn over public records -- including
even, we are told by some sources, information about the

salaries of Zilina's public officials (himself included).
VALLEE


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