SLOVAKIA PLANS TO RATIFY UNESCO CULTURAL DIVERSITY

UNCLAS BRATISLAVA 000736 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT. TO IO/UNESCO M. CRISTINA NOVO DEPT ALSO PASS TO IO/PPC RICHARD WILBUR E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ETRD SCUL UNESCO LO SUBJECT: SLOVAKIA PLANS TO RATIFY UNESCO CULTURAL DIVERSITY TREATY REF: STATE 19851 ¶1. The Slovak Government is moving forward with plans to ratify the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions by the end of the year. According to Ladislav Simko, Director of the International Department at the Ministry of Culture (MOC), the GOS started the ratification process August 25th by initiating a 10-day comment period that is open to government agencies and the public. Simko said that the MOC plans to submit the treaty for cabinet approval in the second half of September, with the goal of getting Parliamentary approval in October or early December (parliament is not in session in November.) The President would be expected to sign the Convention within two to three weeks. Based on these considerations, the Convention could be sent to the UN as early as late October, and likely by the end of the year. ¶2. As a part of this effort the the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sponsored a conference on August 26 to bring together stakeholders to discuss the ratification process. Bozena Krizikova from the Slovak Committee for UNESCO, an advisory committee set up by the Slovak Government in the 1990's, noted during the conference that the EU had encouraged member states to speed up the ratification process. The Slovak Association for Cultural Diversity, an umbrella organization of authors, writers, actors and directors, also participated in the conference. Lubomir Fifik, secretary of the association, was quoted in the press as supporting early ratification as he believes that the treaty's adoption will lead to additional funding of cultural programs. ¶3. The Convention has received limited attention in the press outside of this recent conference. VALLEE