Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06BRATISLAVA977
2006-12-21 12:14:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Bratislava
Cable title:  

SLOVAKIA POLITICAL ROUND-UP DECEMBER 21, 2006

Tags:  PGOV PREL SOCI LO LH 
pdf how-to read a cable
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RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHSL #0977/01 3551214
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 211214Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY BRATISLAVA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0554
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRATISLAVA 000977 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL SOCI LO LH
SUBJECT: SLOVAKIA POLITICAL ROUND-UP DECEMBER 21, 2006

REF: A. BRATISLAVA 862

B. BRATISLAVA 830

C. BRATISLAVA 964

D. BRATISLAVA 966

E. BRATISLAVA 750

F. BRATISLAVA 733

G. BRATISLAVA 754

H. BRATISLAVA 764

I. BRATISLAVA 817

THE PROS AND CONS OF FOIA IN THE GOS
------------------------------------

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRATISLAVA 000977

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL SOCI LO LH
SUBJECT: SLOVAKIA POLITICAL ROUND-UP DECEMBER 21, 2006

REF: A. BRATISLAVA 862

B. BRATISLAVA 830

C. BRATISLAVA 964

D. BRATISLAVA 966

E. BRATISLAVA 750

F. BRATISLAVA 733

G. BRATISLAVA 754

H. BRATISLAVA 764

I. BRATISLAVA 817

THE PROS AND CONS OF FOIA IN THE GOS
--------------


1. (SBU) Since the new Smer-SNS-HZDS (Smer-Social Democracy,
Slovak National Party, Movement for a Democratic Slovakia)
government took office in July, the Embassy has faced
increased difficulty in the responsiveness of established
contacts from several ministries. Notably in the Ministries
of Interior (MOI) and Justice (MOJ),several employees with a
history of friendly relations with the Embassy have declined
official meetings and said that they can no longer provide
the type of information that in the past was considered
mundane. For example, in requesting annual police statistics
on the number of arrests made for rape, domestic violence,
trafficking in persons, etc (for the annual Human Rights
Report),MOI contacts are now instructing us to submit a
formal FOIA-equivalent request. At least one contact told us
frankly that he is nervous that he could lose his job since
he was favored by someone in the previous government
administration. (COMMENT. We have noticed an initial
attitude of suspicion or distrust in many meetings with new
MPs and government officials, which we overcome only through
frequent dialogue and discussion. We are aggressively
seeking meetings with these newcomers and have coined a new
phrase for our message-board: "Gone Smering." END COMMENT.)


2. (U) On December 13, parliament approved the first reading
of a proposed law which included an amendment to make the
government cabinet meetings "non-public." Currently, the
weekly meetings are tape recorded or filmed, and concerned
parties can use the FOIA procedure to gain access to the
recordings so long as the topics discussed were not
classified. If the draft law is approved through three
readings of parliament and signed by the president, the
cabinet meetings will no longer be subject to FOIA requests.
This is the second attempt of the new government to close its

cabinet meetings. The first attempt in July was
unsuccessful. In a strategy unusual in Slovakia, the
amendment was added to an unrelated draft law submitted by
the Ministry of Labor concerning tripartite labor negotiation
procedures.


JUSTICE IN THE COURT SYSTEM?
--------------


3. (SBU) Minister of Justice Stefan Harabin is continuing his
recalls of officials in the judicial and legal structures who
were affiliated with former Justice Minister Daniel Lipsic
(ref B). Some of the latest victims include Alena Polackova,
the Slovak representative to the European Court for Human
Rights, and Maria Kolikova, Director of the Center for Legal
Aid, a government-funded agency which provides free legal
counsel to the poor. Approximately 60 employees of the
center and several NGO leaders signed a petition for Kolikova
to be reinstated. A MOJ contact told us that Harabin has
changed nearly all officials at the director level within his
Ministry. The only department which remains untouched is
International Affairs, where the current Director is
unmatched in his language skills and knowledge of EU
intricacies.


4. (U) Parliament needs to add one more name to the list of
nominees to fill nine vacant seats on the Constitutional
Court (refs A and B). Due to a parliamentary recess, the
earliest time that the last nominee can be added to the list
is mid-January. Most of the shortlisted candidates are
nominees of the government coalition. After the 18-name
nominee list is completed, it will go to President Ivan
Gasparovic, who will choose the nine new justices and
designate one of the judges as the chairman of the court.
Speculation, but no decisive information, continues on
whether Gasparovic will select Harabin, who is on the nominee
list, for a 12-year appointment to the Constitutional Court,
thereby removing him from the post of Justice Minister.


5. (SBU) After months of silence on the issue, Prime Minister
Fico announced publicly, in a speech to the Smer party
congress on December 9 (ref C),and privately (ref D) that he
is in favor of keeping the Special Court for corruption and
organized crime (ref B),but with some changes such as
removing minor bribery cases from the Court's purview.

BRATISLAVA 00000977 002 OF 002


Minister of Interior Kalinak, also with Smer, offered the
same stance in a media interview the day prior. Harabin, a
HZDS-appointee, had officially proposed the closure of the
Special Court in September, having first mentioned the idea
publicly in August.


NO NEWS IS GOOD NEWS: ETHNIC TENSIONS ON BACK BURNER
-------------- --------------


6. (SBU) Ethnic Slovak vs ethnic Hungarian tensions (refs E
and F) have calmed down considerably since the
August-September peak. For the most part, it has been a
non-issue for several months as far as domestic politics and
the media are concerned. We have frequent discussions with
ethnic Hungarian leaders, and they have not been complaining
to us recently of discrimination or unfair treatment. In
terms of Slovak politics, both sides have their reasons for
staying out of the spotlight at the moment. SMK (Party of
the Hungarian Coalition) is dealing with internal issues, in
particular coping with its position as an opposition party.
On the other side, Jan Slota of SNS has, for the most part,
been keeping quiet -- likely at the request of PM Fico.


MEANWHILE, IN THE HEDVIGA MALINOVA CASE...
--------------


7. (U) On November 30, police in Nitra started a criminal
investigation against Hedviga Malinova, the ethnic Hungarian
student who was allegedly attacked for speaking Hungarian in
the city of Nitra (refs F-I),for making a false claim
regarding that attack. Malinova, who insists that the attack
took place, filed a complaint in December with the
Constitutional Court against the Nitra Prosecutor's Office
and the Nitra Police Directorate on the basis that they
breached her right to protection against inhumane and
humiliating treatment and her right to court and other legal
protections.


8. (SBU) Representatives of SMK have acknowledged, privately
at least, that the party was too quick to politicize the
incident, in part by initially providing legal counsel for
Malinova. Malinova now has a non-political lawyer.


MEMORY OF THE NATION CONTINUES TO OPERATE HEADLESS
-------------- --------------


9. (U) Parliament again failed to agree on a new chairman for
the Institute of the Memory of the Nation (ref A),an
organization mandated to publish the files of the fascist
WWII and communist Slovak regimes. Successful public
lobbying efforts by the local Jewish community led to the
withdrawal of candidacy by Arpad Tarnoczy, an SNS nominee who
leads a group that admires and promotes the memory of fascist
era Slovak leaders.


10. (U) The Slovak cabinet will posthumously honor two Slovak
Jews with a state award. Alfred Wexler and Rudolf Vrba
escaped from the Auschwitz concentration camp and were the
first to tell the world of the horrors that were occurring
there. The contributions of the two had not previously been
officially recognized by the Slovak government.


GENDER STAYS ON THE AGENDA, DESPITE LOSS TO VILNIUS
-------------- --------------


11. (SBU) Six members of parliament, from three parties
covering both the coalition and opposition groupings and who
belong to the Committee for Human Rights, Minorities, and the
Status of Women, have cited gender equality as being high on
the committee's agenda. Two committee members have traveled
recently to European conferences on the issue. Slovakia had
been on the shortlist to become home to the EU's new
Institute for Gender Equality (ref A) but lost out to
Vilnius. One international observer noted that Slovakia has
received criticism within the EU for the unequal status of
women within the workplace and society.
VALLEE