US embassy cable - 04BRATISLAVA1142

UNCLAS  BRATISLAVA 001142 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
FOR EUR/PPD MHARALAMBAKIS AND MHURLEY; EUR/NCE 
AMCKNIGHT; IIP/G/EUR; EUR/PD FSCHMADEL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO, PREL, LO 
SUBJECT: 12/21/04 MEDIA REACTION ON NEWS OF POTUS VISIT 
 
 
DAILY SME, PAGE 1:"Bush and Putin are coming to 
Bratislava" reads the headline above photos of 
Presidents Bush and Putin: In February, Bratislava will 
become the center of the world for one day, PM Mikulas 
Dzurinda announced, noting that on February 24, Russian 
President Vladimir Putin will meet his US counterpart 
George Bush in Bratislava. "It will be a big day for 
the Slovak people and the Slovak nation, and allow me 
to express some sentiment, also for me personally," 
said PM Dzurinda, remarking on his personal 
relationship with President Bush, "I very honestly 
appreciate the friendship I feel on his part."  On PAGE 
2:The daily suggests that for Slovakia, organizing such 
a meeting will be a great challenge, adding that 
President Bush will visit Europe in order to fix 
mutually complicated relations with the continent. Head 
of the unit for protecting state officials Jan Packa 
said that measures Bratislava has never seen before 
will be taken. On PAGE 2 SME also prints a summary of 
previous summits between the Russian and US presidents, 
and features Dzurinda's comment that the summit is "a 
sign of our balanced politics" and puts an end to 
disinformation spread by the opposition saying that 
Dzurinda turned Slovakia into an island of US 
influence. 
 
DAILY PRAVDA, PAGE 1:"Putin and Bush are going to meet 
in Bratislava": The daily reports on the planned summit 
between US President George Bush and his Russian 
counterpart Vladimir Putin. 
PAGE 6:"Putin and Bush are going to meet in Bratislava" 
a title above a picture of Bush and Putin from their 
last meeting in Chile in November 2004: "Vladimir Putin 
is going to meet with George Bush in the capital of 
Slovakia" - said a spokesperson from Kremel Alexej 
Gromov according to agency ITAR TASS. Bush will fly in 
for two days on February 23. This day will be 
considered as official visit to Slovakia. The press 
section of the Russian Embassy said "at this moment we 
have no information". Spokesperson of the Slovak 
Ministry of the Foreign Affaires, Juraj Tomaga: "I am 
not going to comment on this". As a first official 
commenting on this information, Minister of Foreign 
Affaires Eduard Kukan said: "It is a signal of 
appreciation and trust that we can organize this kind 
of meeting". According to theRussian news portal 
Bratislava was chosen during the summit in Chile in 
November. Bush is also supposed to meet Putin in May in 
Moscow to celebrate 60th anniversary of the Nazi 
defeat. 
PAGE 10:"Honor for Slovakia" - a byliner by Miroslav 
Caplovic comments on the upcoming summit of bosses from 
the White House and Kremlin. Why did they choose 
Bratislava? George Bush considers Slovakia as his 
faithful ally, but he has never stopped here on his way 
to Europe. It is about time to see his NATO newcomer. 
Also Vladimir Putin has had his invitation from 
Gasparovic' predecessor Rudolf Schuster on his desk for 
a long time. Their visits belong to visits requiring 
the highest security so we think that we have a good 
reputation in this regard. Slovakia managed to secure 
the pope and even the NATO Summit took place without 
massive protests. 
 
DAILY NARODNA OBRODA, PAGE 1:"Bush and Putin are going 
to meet in Bratislava in February": President Ivan 
Gasparovic says that US President George Bush will not 
come to Bratislava because of Russian President 
Vladimir Putin, but because Slovakia is a country with 
the right reactions to international issues. He 
considers it important that both state officials have 
accepted Slovakia's invitation. The daily quotes Charge 
d'Affaires Scott Thayer as saying that President Bush 
comes to Bratislava as a friend of Slovakia.  PAGE 
2:"Bratislava is neutral": Sarah E. Mendelson of the 
American Center for Strategic and International Studies 
said that American and Russian representatives chose 
Bratislava because it is a neutral place for the 
meeting. "They probably were seeking something between 
the US and Russia. It could not have been the Baltic 
countries or Poland and certainly not Ukraine or 
Belarus," she said.  Prague would have evoked memories 
of 1968. 
 
DAILY NOVY CAS, PAGE 1 and 4:"Putin and Bush are 
heading to Bratislava!" - a title with picture of Bush 
and Putin: The daily brings information on the planned 
February 24 summit. The subject of their meeting should 
be mostly Ukraine that is going through their velvet 
revolution at the moment. Both parties agreed on the 
meeting place and both of them are going to visit 
Slovakia for the first time. 
 
DAILY  HOSPODARSKE NOVINY, PAGE 1 and 4:"Bush and Putin 
in  Bratislava" a title above a small picture  of  Bush 
and  Putin:  The upcoming meeting of Russian  President 
Vladimir  Putin and American President George  W.  Bush 
will  be on February 24 in Bratislava - said the  press 
section of the Russian presidential office according to 
agency  AFP.  Putin will be in Bratislava  during  that 
time for an official visit. Bush will visit Slovakia on 
his way through European countries where he is going to 
straighten up relations with allies. 
 
SLOVAK RADIO, in the news program Radio Journal 
announced that the White House would confirm today 
President Bush's visit to Bratislava in February next 
year where the meeting with Russian President Putin 
will take place. 
 
TV MARKIZA, TV News: In February next year a Russian-US 
summit will take place in Bratislava. We were first 
informed about this event by the Russian side, then 
Eduard Kukan (Minister of Foreign Affairs) confirmed it 
and then the U.S. Embassy in Slovakia. This will be the 
first visit of a US president to Slovakia. The summit 
will take place on Feb 24, but Bush may arrive on the 
23rd. During his trip to Europe he will visit Berlin 
and Brussels too. This Russian - U.S summit is by far 
the most important political event that has ever taken 
place in Slovakia. PM Mikulas Dzurinda: This bilateral 
meeting is taking place in our country, this is a big 
day for us, we are happy. Charge d'Affaires, Scott 
Thayer: President Bush will come as a friend of 
Slovakia and PM. Slovak President, Ivan Gasparovic: It 
means so much for us, also from the economic point of 
view, it's the way to show trust to our country. 
 
SLOVAK TV: In February Putin and Bush are meeting in 
Bratislava, as announced by the Kremlin. This is the 
first visit of a US President to our country. 
Politicians agreed on this meeting in Bratislava ten 
days ago. Bush will also visit Belgium and Germany. PM 
Mikulas Dzurinda: This is wonderful for Slovakia to 
participate in bilateral talks and to be a host country 
of such an event. Slovak President, Ivan Gasparovic: 
This confirms that we are a trustworthy country. 
 
TV TA3: US President Bush will come February 23-24, as 
announced by PM and Putin's office. PM Dzurinda: This 
is so wonderful for Slovakia that it will participate 
in bilateral talks and be a host country of such an 
event. It also shows the great relationship between US 
and Slovakia. Slovak President: President Bush is 
coming primarily to visit Slovakia. Slovak MFA Eduard 
Kukan, President: The Russian - US summit was not our 
initiative. Before they met in Slovenia, so this is a 
natural process; they choose neutral countries. 
 
THAYER 
 
 
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