DEFENSE MINISTER GETS OUT AHEAD ON AFGHANISTAN; PM

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRATISLAVA 000188

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/NCE, EUR/RPM

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/24/2018
TAGS: PREL MARR NATO LO AF
SUBJECT: DEFENSE MINISTER GETS OUT AHEAD ON AFGHANISTAN; PM
FICO REINS HIM IN

Classified By: Ambassador Vincent Obsitnik, for Reasons for 1.4 b and d


1. (C) Slovak Defense Minister Jaroslav Baska announced
publicly April 23 that Slovakia plans to increase its troop
commitment in Afghanistan to 250-280 by 2010 and that the
contingent could, at some future date, also include Slovak
Special Forces. (Note: the current deployment is 69 and will
reach 115 by the end of 2008.) Baska made the announcement
at a joint press conference with his Dutch counterpart,
Eimert van Middelkoop. His remarks were notable because for
the first time that Post can recall a senior GOS official
highlighted the inherent risks of deployment. "The Slovak
Defense Ministry never deploys solders who are unprepared for
these missions, and we do all we can to make them ready. It
needs to be said, however, that the missions are highly
dangerous, which may result in some casualties. We have to be
honest about this," Baska stated. At an April 22 dinner
hosted by the Dutch Ambassador at his residence for van
Middelkoop, the UK Ambassador raised in direct terms the
problem with Slovak caveats. According to Ambassador
Obsitnik, Baska responded that he himself "wasn't the
problem" and pledged to work toward their removal over time,
as the Slovak public becomes educated about the notion of
risk.


2. (U) Prime Minister Fico, asked on the fly by a reporter
from the Slovak Daily SME about DefMin Baska's statements,
responded: "You do not have the exact information. Our
condition when sending troops to Afghanistan is always the
same. The soldiers have to be positioned inside camps
without any possibility of participating in military actions.
As far as Afghanistan is concerned, it is a NATO activity. We
are a member state of the Alliance so a modest increase in
the number of our soldiers corresponds to our commitment
without jeopardizing the lives of our soldiers. This is our
basic condition."


3. (C) FM Kubis's Chef de Cabinet Miro Jenca told DCM on
April 25 that he personally had been surprised by Baska's
comments. Jenca said that the Prime Minister had given
explicit approval on the increase in troop levels and on
contributions to OMLTs, but he was not aware that he had
signed off on the possible deployment of special forces.
Jenca added that Baska and FM Kubis are in sync on
Afghanistan and that Slovak military leaders had expressed to
both that they did not want the scope of troops' activity,
particularly in the context of OMLT participation, to be
constrained.


4. (C) Lubomir Macko of the MFA's NATO office told Pol/Econ
Chief that there was an unfortunate lack of communication
between MOD/MFA and the Prime Minister's office. Divergent
views, publicly aired, were the unfortunate result, he added.
Macko stressed, however, that despite the PM's categorical
comments regarding the nature of Slovak deployments, the
overall outlook was positive: Slovak commitment to
Afghanistan was on the rise. He also speculated that once
the additional deployments were in place and had gained
experience working with the Dutch, the Prime Minister might
be more receptive to new missions. Comment: By raising the
special forces option publicly, before it was fully vetted
with the PM, the new Defense Minister clearly overstepped his
brief. However, we agree with the comments of the Dutch
Ambassador who told DCM that while this episode is a
"setback" in the campaign to remove caveats, he didn'tbelieve it would have a lasting impact.
OBSITNIK