SMER RELEASES CAMPAIGN STATEMENT QUESTIONING SLOVAK

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRATISLAVA 000434 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE FOR EUR/NCE: MICHELLE LABONTE AND ERIC FICHTE, EUR/PPD, NEA/IR, AND PA/RRU E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV KDEM KPAO PINR PREL SOCI IZ LO SUBJECT: SMER RELEASES CAMPAIGN STATEMENT QUESTIONING SLOVAK PRESENCE IN IRAQ REF: BRATISLAVA 414 (NOTAL) BRATISLAVA 00000434 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (U) Opposition party Smer-SD ("Direction - Social Democracy") released a statement on June 2 (translated below) blasting the war in Iraq, the deployment of Slovak troops there, and pledging that it will begin deliberations on the possible withdrawal of Slovak troops from Iraq if the party forms a new government after June 17 elections. Smer currently leads in the most recent polls, with over 28.3 percent. The original statement is available in Slovak on the Smer website: www.strana-smer.sk. ¶2. (SBU) While reftel reflects last week's conventional wisdom that Iraq would not figure in the national election campaign, local pundits and contacts in the GOS tell us they believe that events in the interim - particularly the release of polling numbers showing Smer's numbers beginning to decline while Prime Minister Dzurinda's SDKU continues a slow but steady rise - may have "spooked" Smer chairman Robert Fico into raising the issue. In addition, Smer implies that the high profile given to Iraq as a result of the Haditha investigation likely influenced its decision to pursue this as an election issue. ¶3. (SBU) The Embassy is releasing the following response to press inquiries: "The international community is at an important stage in rendering support to the Iraqi government and the Iraqi people. The recently formed unity government in Iraq marks the progress from a brutal dictator to an elected government in which all Iraqis have a voice. The international community is shifting its assistance from providing security to peaceful civilian support. We are grateful for Slovakia's important contribution to this effort - assistance that is helping save Iraqi lives. The Iraqis have expressed their appreciation to the international community and a desire for that assistance to continue." Slovak government officials welcomed our statement. Prime Minister Dzurinda may respond directly to Smer while on the campaign trail over the weekend, or his SDKU party will issue its own statement. So far, Reuters and two local papers have requested a reaction from the Embassy. EUR DAS Mark Pekala also delivered similar responses when questioned about Smer's statement during media interviews in Bratislava June 2. ¶4. (SBU) COMMENT: It is important to view this statement in context, as a campaign statement by a current opposition party that is trying to win, but has not yet won, and moreover has not faced the financial and political realities of what, exactly, withdrawal would mean for Slovakia. Any future government in Slovakia will be a coalition government, and at the moment, the parties that have announced opposition to Slovakia's military presence in Iraq - Smer, the Christian Democratic Party (KDH),the Communist Party (KSS),and the Slovak National Party (SNS) - is a group unlikely to find themselves ruling together. That said, the statement does not bode well for a Fico government to continue Slovakia's heretofore strong support for most U.S. foreign policies. Fico had told the Ambassador expressly that he would not make Iraq a campaign issue, and would not move actively to withdraw from Iraq. END COMMENT. ¶5. (U) BEGIN UNOFFICIAL TRANSLATION OF SMER STATEMENT: SMER-Social Democrats after entrance into a new government immediately will decide on the withdrawal of Slovak military units from Iraq. SMER-Social Democrats have always opposed the participation of Slovak soldiers in the war against Iraq. The use of military force in Iraq is considered a violation of international law. The military action in Iraq was brought about through lies, the propagation of which the Slovak government prime minister and Bush's real lackey M. Dzurinda and the other ministers of his government directly participated. It is obvious that behind the use of power in Iraq were economic interests. The war in Iraq has not solved anything. The country is in civil war, and every day a lot of innocent people die, and Iraq became a dangerous seedbed of tension and the spreading of terrorism. The situation in Iraq has nothing in common with democracy. SMER-Social Democrats cannot tolerate that Slovak soldiers would stay in Iraq under this situation. It is obvious today that the PM maintains their participation in the BRATISLAVA 00000434 002.2 OF 002 military action in Iraq only to gain the greater goodwill of the US president. He placed Slovak soldiers in real danger of injury or death which has happened already in three instances just in the interest of getting a photograph with the American president, which SMER-SD considers to be depraved. SMER-SD with fear learns more and more information about the murder of civilian population of Iraq including women and children by American soldiers. If this information is definitively confirmed, everyone who at the same time participated in military activities in Iraq on the side of the USA will take part of the responsibility for this huge violation of international law and military crimes against the civilian population. SMER-SD reminds the government of the SR, especially its PM Dzurinda, that there have already been several countries that have ended their participation in Iraq after they found out the truth about the false and manufactured reasons for using military force and the current situation in Iraq. M. Dzurinda dragged Slovakia into a war against a country several thousand kilometers away that never threatened Slovakia and against the will of the majority of Slovaks. He did this only to look better to the president of the US, giving gave absolute priority to his own taste for power over the interests of the SR. The last decision of the legislature of the USA on conditions for eliminating the visa requirement was absolutely ridiculous and proof that Dzurinda is counted among the lackeys in the eyes of the Bush administration. If today the free Slovak soldier fighting for the interests of the US in Iraq requests a visa to the US, there is a high probability that he would not be allowed to set foot on the territory of the USA. From the point of view of the economic cost to the Slovak taxpayers, the participation of soldiers in Iraq costs several million SKK per year. SMER-SD refuses that people pay for the war in Iraq, with whom we have nothing in common. Similarly we would remind, that it wasn't only a visa slap in the face but also a refusal of Slovakia to participate in the programs of renewal in Iraq. For these considerations, Slovak soldiers must immediately return home. END UNOFFICIAL TRANSLATION OF SMER STATEMENT. VALLEE