PRESIDENT REASSURES AMBASSADOR ON IRAQ, COALITION

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BRATISLAVA 000584

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/14/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV IZ LO
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT REASSURES AMBASSADOR ON IRAQ, COALITION


Classified By: Ambassador Rodolphe M. Vallee for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d
).


1. (C) Summary: President Gasparovic told the Ambassador July
13 that there would be continuity in Slovak foreign policy,
and that he personally would be playing a larger role in
collaboration with his hand-picked Foreign Minister Jan
Kubis. He echoed Kubis's promise to coordinate closely with
the U.S., Iraq, and coalition partners as Slovakia
contemplates withdrawing forces from Iraq. Gasparovic
defended Fico's inclusion of the Slovak National Party (SNS)
in the coalition, saying it was a more acceptable partner for
Smer and HZDS than the Hungarian Coalition Party (SMK) and
that the quick deal had been necessary to avoid a deadlock
like that in the Czech Republic. End summary.

Continuity in Foreign Policy
--------------


2. (C) President Ivan Gasparovic invited the Ambassador for a
one-on-one lunch July 13 at the Presidential Palace. He
assured the Ambassador that the new government would not make
any abrupt changes to Slovakia's foreign policy, saying that
there would be continuity and Slovakia would meet its
commitments. He told the Ambassador that he and PM Robert
Fico had agreed that the President would have a larger role
in setting foreign policy than under the Dzurinda government.
Gasparovic claimed that he had hand-picked new Foreign
Minister Jan Kubis, that he would be collaborating closely
with Kubis on foreign policy, and would likely talk to the FM
more often than Fico would.


3. (C) On Iraq, Gasparovic promised that there would be no
sudden, dramatic moves. The new government was committed to
its promise to coordinate with Iraq, the U.S., and other
coalition partners, and Gasparovic noted that it would be
terrible for Slovakia's image to cut and run. Gasparovic,
apparently uninformed about Iraqi Coalition planning
mechanisms, proposed that "a meeting of the presidents of all
the coalition partners should be called to set out a plan to
coordinate the missions with the needs of the Iraqis." The
Ambassador emphasized the need for Slovakia to stay engaged,
and expressed appreciation for Gasparovic's public comments
in support of Slovakia's participation.

New Coalition: Nationalists Are Good
--------------


4. (C) The Ambassador stated that we would judge the new
government on its actions rather than its past statements,
but also emphasized that protection of minority rights and
Roma integration are priorities for the U.S. We would speak
out to counter improper statements by coalition partners when
appropriate. Gasparovic insisted that the Slovak Nationalist
Party was not extremist and posed no threat to Slovak
democracy. He called SNS Chair Jan Slota "nothing more than
a big mouth." He said the SMK was as radical as the SNS,
claiming that Bugar had threatened that Hungarians would
flood the streets if SMK were not included in the government.
Gasparovic complained that Hungarians in south Slovakia
discriminated against Slovaks who could not speak Hungarian,
for example in employment. He further railed against
ethnic-Hungarian Slovak members of the European Parliament as
"traitors" for their alleged mobilization of MEPs against
Fico. He was critical of his pick Kubis for making his first
trip to Hungary and appearing as a supplicant. (Comment: We
have long known that Gasparovic was close to the
nationalists; SNS supported his presidential bid. However,
we did not expect the force with which he expressed his
anti-Hungarian sentiments. End comment.)


5. (C) The Ambassador asked about rumors that Fico had been
working on a Smer-HZDS-SMK coalition, but at the last hour
decided to go with SNS rather than SMK. (Comment: We had
heard that Gasparovic weighed in on behalf of SNS. End
comment.) Gasparovic said the decision was due to the
majority in Smer, and HZDS who would never accept working
with Hungarian nationalists. He defended Fico's choice of
coalition partners and the speed at which the deal had been
done, saying that it avoided an untenable stalemate such as
that in the Czech Republic.


6. (C) Comment: Gasparovic obviously wanted to reassure the
Ambassador on foreign policy issues, including Iraq, and
explain that he would personally be assuming a larger role in
policy-making. He is also trying to reassure the
international community, which has been critical of Fico's
choice of coalition partners, that everything will be OK. We
have not yet had a chance to test Gasparovic's influence over
foreign policy. We are withholding judgment on the new

BRATISLAVA 00000584 002 OF 002


government's less savory partners until we see how its
ministers and MPs behave over time.
VALLEE