SLOVAKIA'S NEW RULING COALITION: SMER-SNS-HZDS

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRATISLAVA 000527 SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/NCE AND S/ES-O NSC FOR DAMON WILSON E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/30/2021 TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR KDEM SOCI LO SUBJECT: SLOVAKIA'S NEW RULING COALITION: SMER-SNS-HZDS REF: A. BRATISLAVA 521 ¶B. BRATISLAVA 513 ¶C. BRATISLAVA 506 ¶D. BRATISLAVA 499 ¶E. BRATISLAVA 494 ¶F. BRATISLAVA 491 Classified By: DCM Lawrence R. Silverman for Reasons 1.4 (B) and (D). ¶1. (U) At a June 28 press conference, Smer chairman Robert Fico announced his party presidium's unanimous decision to form a coalition government with nationalist party SNS and former Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar's HZDS. Under the agreement, Smer will get 11 seats in the cabinet, SNS 3, and HZDS 2. Fico also announced that neither Meciar nor SNS party chairman Jan Slota will hold cabinet positions or assume leadership roles in the new government; instead, they will remain "ordinary" MPs. ¶2. (U) Painting a picture of the government's policies, Fico announced that his government will be "pro-European," respecting the status quo in rights for national minorities, and affirming that it will respect Slovakia's commitments to the EU, NATO, and OECD. ¶3. (U) On the domestic front, Fico announced that people could look forward to lower prices and taxes on food and basic needs, as well as the abolishment of payment for medical services. ¶4. (U) Smer, SNS, and HZDS will meet tomorrow to consult further on the formation of the government. Fico indicated that they hope for an opening session of parliament on July 12 (where committee chairmen will be assigned and MPs assigned),a vote of confidence in the new government in early August, and the beginning of the full working session of parliament in early September. Earlier in the week, Fico announced his intent to officially inform President Gasparovic about his coalition intentions on Friday, June 30. ¶5. (C) We will report septel our thoughts on how to engage this problematic coalition. VALLEE