AMBASSADOR'S COURTESY CALL WITH FOREIGN MINISTER

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BRATISLAVA 000001

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/02/2013
TAGS: PREL PGOV KVIR EU LO
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S COURTESY CALL WITH FOREIGN MINISTER
KUBIS

Classified By: Ambassador Vincent Obsitnik for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary. In their courtesy call meeting on December
28, Ambassador Obsitnik and Foreign Minister Jan Kubis
discussed a range of foreign policy issues, with an emphasis
on the Western Balkans. Kubis was in typical form, cordial
and guarded, but gave additional insight on several topics,
such as Slovakia's gameplan for recognizing Kosovo and his
views on Slovak-Hungarian relations. The Foreign Minister
requested assistance from the Ambassador to help set up
visits to Washington for President Ivan Gasparovic and for
himself. He also asked for American support to help weigh in
with the Kosovars to maintain the Slovak diplomatic office in
Pristina. End Summary.

Kosovo
--------------


2. (C) Kosovo led off the discussion. Kubis emphasized that
Slovakia "will be with the EU majority on all practical
matters" concerning Kosovo, and claimed to be the first one
to raise the idea of establishing a ESDP force in Kosovo,
clarifying that it is a EU priority to help establish a
durable solution for Kosovo. Slovakia's decision on whether
and when to officially recognize the independence of Kosovo
would be a complicated balancing act, he added, but Slovakia
would eventually follow the majority of the EU. Kubis
offered that recognition of Kosovo by EU member states would
take pace in waves: by his count, "about 17" states would
recognize Kosovo immediately after it declares independence,
a handful more would recognize a month or so later, followed
by a another handful after about six months. Kubis reckoned
that Slovakia would end up in the third and last group along
with Spain, Romania, and Greece, and suggested that the
decision regarding when to recognize would be coordinated
closely with the latter two. When pushed, Kubis floated June
2008 as a possible estimate for recognition. In any case,
Kubis made clear that Prime Minister Fico would not allow
Slovakia to stand with Cyprus as the last two in the EU
refusing to recognize Kosovo, and added that he had relayed
that message recently to his FM counterpart from Nicosia.
The Foreign Minister also reported that he sent a strong
message to Serbian PM Vojislav Kostunica at the UN in early
December, telling him that Slovakia "will eventually
recognize Kosovo" and counseling that Serbia must not cut
electricity or water supplies to Kosovo.


3. (C) Kubis also reiterated that Slovakia wanted to keep its
diplomatic office in Pristina open despite what he thought
could be unfriendly attitudes among Kosovars towards Slovakia
for lack of early recognition. Kubis asked the Ambassador if
the U.S. would be willing to weigh in with the Kosovo
government on this as appropriate. He expressed his
appreciation for help provided by the U.S. Office in Pristina
in response to security threats earlier to the Slovak office
earlier in the year and hoped the missionw would continue
working together closely in 2008

Slovak-Hungarian relations
--------------


4. (C) Regarding Slovak-Hungarian relations, Kubis was
hopeful about bilateral communication in the short-term,
noting that both sides were working on setting up an official
visit to Bratislava by Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany in
early 2008. He was not especially sanguine about the
prospects for bilateral relations after Hungary's next
national elections, however, fearing that the more explicitly
nationalist elements from the former Orban government might
return to power. Kubis opined that Orban's circle had "a lot
of crazy ideas...based on the concept of a politically united
Hungarian nation." The FM emphasized the need to discuss
Slovak-Hungarian relations at length with U.S. colleagues,
noting the letter that Prime Minister received earlier this
year from Representative Tom Lantos about treatment of the
Hungarian minority within Slovakia. "I responded with all
politeness," he noted, "I don't want to see more letters like
that." Kubis said he would work with Ambassador Kacer to
press Slovakia's case further during his next trip to
Washington.

Missile Defense
--------------


5. (C) Ambassador Obsitnik reminded Kubis that a US DOD
delegation would be coming to Slovakia in early 2008 to
provide a classified briefing on missile-based security
threats and hoped that PM Fico could attend, since it would
give him a broader perspective on the need for a missile
defense system in Central Europe. Kubis responded by saying
that the U.S. should not just "read my (Fico's) lips but read

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my acts" with regard to missile defense. He added that Fico
is committed to working with the NATO majority but, when
asked by journalists, will express a European social
democrat's skepticism of the idea of missile defense. Kubis
assured the Ambassador that Fico understands and supports the
official policy that the decision ultimately belongs to the
Czech and Polish governments. He also said that he and the
PM would like to see more information about the threats posed
by Iran, since the U.S. readout will be quite different that
the perspective that Russia has been promoting.

Restrictions on Slovak NGO sector
--------------

6. (C) Kubis responded constructively to Ambassador
Obsitnik's inquiries about a newly proposed draft law by the
Ministry of Interior, which would force NGOs to register as
associations that can only legally provide services to
members, thereby potentially prohibiting the right of NGOs to
take part in advocacy activities (such as democracy
promotion) either at home or abroad. The FM was not entirely
up-to-date on the issue and seemed to view pasage of some
sort of law as a foregone conlusion but acknowledged that the
draft had problems. He drew comparisons to efforts last year
by the Ministry of Finance to reduce tax assignation funding
to NGOs and offered that his Ministry could again reach out
to various stakeholders and help reach some sort of mutually
acceptable compromise. Kubis understood that the Ministry's
proposal put pressure on NGOs but said "I don't think there
is an attempt to forcefully squeeze them out." He
specifically mentioned that he would get in touch with
Kalinak and with leaders from the NGO sector, including
former Ambassador to the U.S. Martin Butora in early January.
(Update: Kubis told the Ambassador on January 1 that he had
spoken to Minister Robert Kalinak and that he and Kalinak
would meet with the NGOs to discuss the draft.)

Official Visits to the U.S.
--------------


7. (C) Kubis also asked the Ambassador for help in scheduling
a potential visit to Washington by President Ivan Gasparovic
during 2008, including a trip to the White House. The FM
believes that Gasparovic plays a moderating influence within
the government on many foreign policy issues, such as missile
defense and Kosovo, and a visit could prove beneficial to
both sides. This idea was very much in its initial stages,
and no specific month for a visit was suggested.


8. (C) The FM was looking forward to his planned trip to
Washington in late January/early February (exact dates not
confirmed) and asked Ambassador Obsitnik for help in setting
up an agenda. Kubis wanted to make meetings with the U.S.
Congress a point of emphasis on this trip, mentioning that he
would like to meet with Rep. Lantos, ranking members of the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and perhaps legislators
involved with visa waiver legislation. He also mentioned
that he would personally invite Rep. Alcee Hastings to meet
with him during the Congressman's upcoming February visit to
Vienna. Ambassador Obsitnik recommended possible visits with
Senator Lugar, Senator Voinovich, and Representative Mica.
OBSITNIK