SLOVAK SUPPORT FOR TURKISH EU ACCESSION

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRATISLAVA 000349 SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/NCE E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/31/2018 TAGS: PREL LO EU TU SUBJECT: SLOVAK SUPPORT FOR TURKISH EU ACCESSION REF: STATE 79278 Classified By: Political-Economic Chief Susan Ball, for Reasons 1.4 b a nd d ¶1. (C) Acting Director of the MFA's Third Territorial Department, Eva Ponomarenkova, confirmed on July 29 continued GOS support for Turkey's EU accession, noting that Slovakia's experience underscored the importance of an "EU perspective" as a motivating factor for critical reforms. Although the outcome of the court case on AKP had not yet been decided, Ponomarenkova made clear that, regardless of the outcome, Slovakia's reaction to any decision would be muted and she believed that most EU member states favored a similarly low-key response. Jan Solcany, of the MFA's EU Internal Affairs and Institutions Department echoed Ponomarenkova's views, noting that Slovakia supports EU accession for any country that fulfills the Copenhagen criteria, but he added that Slovakia's accession priority -- as GOS officials noted publicly after the Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty -- is Croatia. OBSITNIK