SLOVAKIA SUPPORTS CURRENT INTERNET GOVERNANCE

UNCLAS BRATISLAVA 000898 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EB/CIP, EUR/ERA COMMERCE FOR ITA AND NTIA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECPS ETRD ECON EINT ETTC LO SUBJECT: SLOVAKIA SUPPORTS CURRENT INTERNET GOVERNANCE STRUCTURES REF: STATE 196384 (SBU) Director of the Department of Information Society at the Ministry of Transport, Posts and Telecommunications Tibor Papp told Econoff that Slovakia seeks to preserve the status quo on Internet governance. He stressed that the open nature of the Internet must be maintained, and since it is not under any threat there is no reason to change the current structure. Papp opined that the "New Cooperation Model" was developed by "EU bureaucrats" who were looking for an issue to work on, but he did not think the proposal had deep support among member countries. Although Slovakia will continue to push against any efforts to create new structures to govern the Internet, Papp noted that Slovakia will ultimately have to follow the EC line on this issue. Papp, who will represent Slovakia at the WSIS in Tunis, does not expect the EU's proposal to go anywhere at the summit. VALLEE NNNN