US embassy cable - 04BRATISLAVA1087

UNCLAS BRATISLAVA 001087 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, MARR, PREL, LO 
SUBJECT: SLOVAKIA POLITICAL ROUNDUP DECEMBER 03, 2004 
 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED -- PROTECT ACCORDINGLY 
 
Parliament Instructs GOS to Open Turkish Accession Talks 
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1. (SBU) Parliament November 30 approved the MFA's draft 
resolution instructing the GOS to adopt an EU common 
position in favor of opening accession talks with Turkey. 
MFA representatives and PM Dzurinda's foreign policy advisor 
clarified to us that the caveat requiring "political 
conditions" meant satisfying the Copenhagen criteria.  The 
only party opposed was the Christian Democrat Movement, 
which in turn proposed a second resolution acknowledging 
"the genocide of Armenians in 1915, in which hundreds of 
thousands of Armenians who lived in the Ottoman Empire died 
and considers it to be a crime against humanity."  That 
resolution also passed. 
 
EuroAtlantic Security Conference Attracts Wide Audience 
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2. (U) A conference on the new security environment in 
Europe, organized by the Euro-Atlantic Center (a student 
group at the foreign affairs faculty of Matej Bel University 
in Banska Bystrica) brought together speakers from 
throughout Europe, including the DCM who talked about NATO's 
new priorities.  The November 23-25 conference focused on 
strategic security policy concepts, the nature of threats, 
and defense transformation and attracted approximately 100 
attendees. 
 
3. (U) Serbian Ambassador to Slovakia Miroslav Kopecni told 
participants that Serbia and Montenegro should join NATO at 
the same time as its Balkan neighbors.  To the visible 
annoyance of the Croatian Ambassador who just finished 
presenting the merits of Croatia's rapid accession, Kopecni 
described Serbia as "the poor cousin but a member of the 
European family" and warned against drawing new dividing 
lines in the Balkans or isolating Serbia.  He said Serbia 
and Montenegro should join the PfP, NATO, and the EU "in 
that sequence."  Kopecni said almost 100 percent of Serbs 
favor EU accession and more than 50 percent favor NATO 
accession.  He noted that only "right-wing organizations" 
and "socialists" still oppose NATO accession and public 
approval for NATO accession has been growing since KFOR 
quelled the March riots in Kosovo. 
 
4. (U) Rastislav Kacer, Slovak Ambassador to the U.S., said 
he thought Europeans were increasingly apathetic towards 
security.  He said talk about the importance of security is 
not reflected in declining defense budgets.  He described 
NATO as the best forum for defense planning and security 
policy, adding that EU defense planning lacked the 
"bureaucratic creativity" needed to increase defense 
capabilities and avoid distorting political visions of 
security. 
 
Kidnapped Slovak Humanitarian Worker Freed 
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5. (U) Kidnappers released Miriam Jevikova, a 28-year old 
Slovak student, in late November.  Jevikova was kidnapped in 
June while working in North Ossetia for the Czech 
Organization for Aid to Refugees (OPU).  Media reports 
credit the Russian intelligence service with securing her 
release.  The Russian federal police and Jevikova's family 
have not provided details of the release despite some Czech 
politicians calling for this information.  Kidnappers 
previously demanded a one million dollar ransom. 
 
WEISER 
 
 
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