Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09BRATISLAVA497
2009-11-27 11:25:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Bratislava
Cable title:  

DAS QUANRUD IN SLOVAKIA

Tags:  PGOV PREL ENRG LO 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO1472
RR RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHNP RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHSL #0497/01 3311125
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 271125Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY BRATISLAVA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0285
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHSL/AMEMBASSY BRATISLAVA 0333
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BRATISLAVA 000497 

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR S/CEE FOR AMB MORNINGSTAR, EUR/CE FOR J. MOORE AND M. LIBBY, PRM FOR E. TOURE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/27/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL ENRG LO
SUBJECT: DAS QUANRUD IN SLOVAKIA

REF: Bratislava 490

BRATISLAVA 00000497 001.2 OF 002


CLASSIFIED BY: Keith A. Eddins, CDA.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BRATISLAVA 000497

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR S/CEE FOR AMB MORNINGSTAR, EUR/CE FOR J. MOORE AND M. LIBBY, PRM FOR E. TOURE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/27/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL ENRG LO
SUBJECT: DAS QUANRUD IN SLOVAKIA

REF: Bratislava 490

BRATISLAVA 00000497 001.2 OF 002


CLASSIFIED BY: Keith A. Eddins, CDA.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)

1. (C) Summary: In a 29-hour visit to Bratislava, EUR DAS
Pamela Quanrud met with a variety of senior Slovak government
officials, including Deputy Prime Minister Robert Kalinak and FM
Miroslav Lajcak, as well as opposition leaders and members of
the judiciary, civil society, and news media to discuss our
priority issues. Key topics discussed were Slovak commitments
to Afghanistan, energy security, minority rights, governance,
the business environment in Slovakia, and refugees. Lajcak and
Kalinak reaffirmed Slovakia's commitment to plus-up its ISAF
contributions by 2011. Lajcak and others explained how Slovakia
is better prepared this winter should there be another natural
gas cut-off. Lajcak pledged to continue working to reduce
tensions with Hungary arising from the controversial amendment
to the Slovak language law. Kalinak expressed openness to the
idea of a third party review of judicial issues, and a
willingness to resettle more Cuban political refugees from
Guantanamo. Lajcak's support for the U.S. position on Iran was
reported in reftel. End Summary.




2. (C) Afghanistan: Quanrud pressed for more details on
Slovak-promised increases in support to Afghanistan in meetings
at Ministry of Defense, MFA, and Ministry of Interior. Her
Slovak interlocutors confirmed that support to ISAF is their top
priority and that the recent announcements of additional
deployments to bring the total troop count in Afghanistan from
about 250 to over 400 were real and that plans are in the works.
Exact numbers and timelines have yet to be worked out, but FM
Lajcak told her the full increase would be in place by the end
of 2011, with three-quarters of the increase accomplished in

2010. Minister of Interior Kalinak indicated that Slovakia
would provide special forces among these deployments, but said
they would be used primarily for force protection. Quanrud
urged him to consider giving the SOF troops the latitude to
engage in training of Afghan forces, which might also involve

participation in offensive operations. Kalinak also said he was
-- in his capacity as Minister of Interior -- prepared to send
civilian police trainers as well; he suggested that he could
send two police trainers fairly quickly, then work up to six or
more. Kalinak and Lajcak both agreed that the current caveats
need to be, and will be, lifted. While Kalinak offered to try
to get an announcement by the December ISAF Force Generation
Conference, Lajcak said that the topics of caveats and offensive
engagements in Afghanistan could not be broached publicly until
after the June 2010 Slovak elections.




3. (C) Energy Security: Quanrud raised energy security in the
FM Lajcak meeting as well as in meetings with MinEcon DG for
Energy Jan Petrovic and MFA DG for Economic Cooperation Radomir
Bohac. Petrovic outlined the extensive work the GoS has done
since the January 2009 gas crisis: full storage facilities going
into the winter, legal requirements for gas suppliers to keep
more extensive reserves, technical modifications to connections
with the Czech Republic and Austria to allow rapid conversion to
reverse flow, and contingency contracts with Western suppliers.
All in all, these measures leave Slovakia in a much better
position than last year to deal with a complete cutoff; Petrovic
described it as "the best supply situation he has seen" in his
long career at the ministry. That said, none of her
interlocutors felt confident predicting whether a cutoff would
occur. As Lajcak put it, "We have valid contracts with the
Russians, yet we are completely vulnerable." Lajcak also noted
that in Prime Minister Fico's November 16 meeting with Russian
PM Putin, Fico had aggressively asserted to Putin that it was
Russia's responsibility to deliver on its contracts. For his
side, Putin had painted a pessimistic scenario in which Russia
would once again be "forced" to cut off natural gas deliveries
to Ukraine if the Ukrainians were unable to pay their bills in a
timely manner in early 2010.




4. (C) Minority Rights: Quanrud discussed the controversial
amendment to the State language law with Lajcak, stressing the
need for moderate rhetoric to counter nationalists on both sides
of the Danube. Lajcak said that the GoS was working much better
with the Hungarian government, though the (outsized) Hungarian
reaction to what he views as a normal language law reflects an
old position of Hungary's: to try to establish itself as an
international rapporteur on minority rights in Slovakia. He
said the Slovak position on this is clear: Hungary (as opposed
to ethnic Hungarian Slovaks) cannot have a role in the Slovak
legislative process. Lajcak voiced concern about the likelihood
of an April 2010 Fidesz government in Budapest, which will
resort to nationalism whenever it falters in its domestic
agenda. Quanrud raised U.S. concerns about Roma in her meeting
with Kalinak. Kalinak said that his ministry has grown his

BRATISLAVA 00000497 002.2 OF 002


in-house "Roma experts" division from 17 officers to 280 during
his tenure, but that he sees a continuing problem with crime
rates among Roma.




5. (C) Governance: In her meeting with Kalinak, Quanrud
expressed concern about the recent politicization and apparent
loss of independence of the Slovak judiciary. Kalinak
acknowledged that this has become a problem, but said the
government cannot do much about it, citing the deliberate
separation of Executive and Judicial branches. He also said
that the problems go back to old feuds in the judiciary dating
back to the Meciar years. (Comment: This interpretation of the
protests on the part of over 100 judges is something we have
heard before; it appears to be an attempt to minimize the
problem by portraying it as a mostly political squabble.)
Quanrud suggested that some international fact-finding and
evaluation might give the GoS the leverage it needs for reform
and Kalinak promised that he would consider such a review.




6. (C) Business Environment: In her meetings at the MFA and with
Kalinak, Quanrud pressed the case for ensuring that Slovakia's
business environment, and the judicial system in particular,
supports new investment as the economic crisis winds down.
Lajcak confirmed that he is hearing this concern from foreign
investors and reiterated his commitment to act if he is
presented with specifics. He added that this problem would be
much smaller if Smer can change coalition partners after the
next election.




7. (C) Refugees: In the Kalinak meeting, he expressed a
willingness to consider accepting more Cuban refugees and saw no
conflict between such an action and Slovakia's plans to accept
three Guantanamo detainees. He encouraged the U.S. to go ahead
with a request. Kalinak also expressed a desire to do more for
the Palestinian refugees from northern Iraq that are currently
being processed in Slovakia. This extends to better serving the
refugees currently in Slovakia, as well as possibly accepting
more.




8. (C) Media Freedom: In a wide-ranging discussion with media
and NGO representatives, Quanrud heard their concerns about
pressure they are feeling from the Slovak government. While
acknowledging that no censorship (or worse) was taking place in
Slovakia, most expressed worry that the combination of the 2008
Slovak right-to-reply law and the widespread use of libel suits
left the press in a vulnerable position.




9. (C) Opposition Plans: At a lunch with senior officials from
three of the four largest opposition parties, Quanrud heard lots
of complaints about the policies of the Fico government, focused
largely on lack of economic development, job losses, and
corruption. But when Quanrud pressed them on how they intended
to persuade Slovak voters to support the opposition's emerging
pro-growth, anti-corruption agenda, none of them was able to
offer any concrete plans for waging an effective 2010 campaign.
They also discussed the impact that the April 2010 Hungarian
elections are likely to have on the subsequent June Slovak
elections; all three agreed that while PM Fico is currently
seeking to distance himself from the nationalist SNS party of
Jan Slota, the SNS could draw increased strength in reaction to
the anticipate strong showing by Fidesz in Hungary.




10. (C) Embassy Comment: Quanrud's well-timed visit offered us
the opportunity to convey Washington's latest thinking on
Afghanistan and Iran to senior levels of the Slovak government.
Equally important, Quanrud -- speaking as a friend and ally --
conveyed U.S. concerns about the deteriorating situation in the
Slovak judiciary, which has the long-term potential to harm
Slovakia's reputation and credibility, particularly among
foreign investors.
EDDINS