US embassy cable - 04BRATISLAVA802

UNCLAS BRATISLAVA 000802 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, LO 
SUBJECT: SLOVAKIA POLITICAL ROUNDUP AUGUST 24, 2004 
 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED -- PROTECT ACCORDINGLY 
 
Religious Communities May Get Second Restitution Possibility 
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1. (U) The Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) has prepared a draft 
bill to return confiscated church property.   Under its terms, 
churches and religious communities would be able to reclaim 
property that was confiscated or transferred to the state between 
May 8, 1945 and 1990.  The Jewish community could reclaim 
property confiscated as early as November 1938 (when anti-Jewish 
legislation was introduced).  The MOA draft bill essentially 
reopens a process that originally expired in 1994 and removes 
discrepancies that existed between registered religious 
communities and private persons in the past.  Private citizens 
were granted an additional period for reclaiming land in 2001, 
while religious communities were not.  The bill is under 
discussion in parliamentary committees. 
 
General Prosecutor's Office Defends Decision to Free Majsky 
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2. (SBU) Katarina Leiferova, the Prosecutor General's chief of 
staff, told poloff her office is considering legislative changes 
to the Law for the Special Prosecutor's Office (which deals with 
organized crime and high-level corruption).  The GP wants to 
increase cooperation between state witnesses and police 
investigators who work on the same cases. 
 
3. (SBU) Leiferova defended Prosecutor General Dobroslav Trnka`s 
controversial decision to release from pre-trial custody Jozef 
Majsky, the business tycoon charged with white collar crimes. 
She expressed confidence in Trnka's ability to make unpopular, 
albeit correct, legal decisions.  She stated that time will tell 
that it was the right decision, and the GP's office did not 
appreciate politicians' unsupportive press statements (a 
reference to Justice Minister Daniel Lipsic's public criticism of 
the decision).  There was no new evidence being collected against 
Majsky and no need to prolong his detention since Majsky's 
presence in court was not needed.  Leiferova added that if he 
were unable to attend the trial due to illness, the case could go 
forward on the available information.  (Note: Illness is not the 
issue, flight is.  According to Slovak law, a case can be tried 
in absentia if the accused has been delivered the file, summoned, 
property interrogated, informed about his right to study the 
file, etc., and if the crime carries a maximum sentence of five 
years in prison.  Majsky's alleged crimes may carry a higher 
sentence.) 
 
New Social Fund Focuses on High Unemployment Areas 
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4. (U) A new "Social Fund" administered by the Ministry of Labor 
and financed mainly through the European Social Fund, will assist 
unemployed and socially disadvantaged Slovaks.  The fund is now 
operating in the fifteen localities with the highest unemployment 
in the Banska Bystrica, Kosice, and Presov regions.  The Social 
Fund will make large grants up to 70,000 Euro and micro-grants 
for 25,000 Euro, totaling 15 million Euro for 2004-2006.  The 
basic structure is similar to many USAID grants, such as the four- 
year regional Roma Integration Program, in that it focuses on 
developing partnerships and projects from the bottom up. 
 
5. (SBU) The fact that the Social Fund will not be dedicated 
exclusively to Roma projects has prompted some controversy. 
Lenka Vavrekova, Director of the Fund, told emboffs that the Roma 
Plenipotentiary and other activists have sought more control over 
the decision-making and argued that all grants should be geared 
towards Roma.  The GOS countered that not only Roma suffer 
problems of unemployment and poverty. 
 
THAYER 
 
 
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