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