US embassy cable - 04BRATISLAVA1154

C O N F I D E N T I A L  BRATISLAVA 001154 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
STATE FOR L/LEI KEN PROPP, DOJ/OIA DEBORAH GAYNUS, AND 
G/TIP JENNIFER TOPPING 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/21/2014 
TAGS: PREL, MARR, PHUM, LO 
SUBJECT: SLOVAKIA POLITICAL ROUNDUP DECEMBER 23, 2004 
 
REF: (A) STATE 269497 (B) BRATISLAVA 300 
 
Classified By: CDA SCOTT THAYER FOR REASONS 1.5 (B) AND (D) 
 
HZDS Considering Troop Increase for Iraq? 
------------------------------------------ 
1. (C) Michaela Blanarova, Assistant to HZDS Deputy Chairman 
and Deputy Speaker of Parliament Viliam Veteska and HZDS 
Foreign Policy Advisor, told emboffs December 16 that Veteska 
is considering proposing an increase in the number of Slovak 
deminers in Iraq.  She did not have any further details and 
noted Veteska has not thoroughly discussed this proposal 
within his party and not at all outside of the party.  The 
current idea is to increase the Slovak contribution to OIF, 
not the NATO training mission.  (COMMENT: We are cautiously 
optimistic about this claim.  HZDS has liberalized since the 
Meciar-era when the party was characterized by its double 
speak.  Emboffs noticed Blanarova seemed keen on telling us 
what we wanted to hear.  Working from talking points, 
Blanarova only mentioned this idea off the cuff near the end 
of the meeting.  Such a HZDS proposal would be completely out 
of line with the party's political base.  END COMMENT.) 
 
Possibile New Extradition Treaty 
-------------------------------- 
2. (C) During a farewell call on Justice Minister Daniel 
Lipsic, the Ambassador expressed hope that a new bilateral 
extradition treaty would allow for the extradition of Slovak 
nationals to the U.S., even if it was conditioned as in other 
EU countries.  Lipsic replied that he had no objection to the 
idea.  (Comment: This is in contrast to what we have heard 
from working-level contacts at the MOJ, who said that 
extraditing nationals to the U.S. would be politically very 
difficult for Slovakia.)  In its first extradition ever of 
nationals, the GOS handed over two Slovaks to Austrian 
authorities in early December to stand trial on murder 
charges.  We have delivered the proposed text for a new 
extradition treaty (ref A). 
 
Labor Minister Kanik Survives No-Confidence Vote 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
3. (U) Ludovit Kanik, Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, 
survived a vote of no confidence on December 14.  Of the 134 
MPs present, 66 voted in favor, 64 against, three officially 
abstained, and one did not vote.  The vote required a 
parliamentary majority of 76 votes.  The strongest opposition 
party SMER proposed the motion, arguing that Kanik is 
politically responsible for the mismanaged pension reform, 
which will require citizens to deposit their money in private 
investments without a guaranteed yield.  SMER also criticized 
Kanik for abuse of office. Kanik asked the Social Insurance 
Company to pardon his firm's penalties for not paying social 
insurance benefits to his employees between 1997 and 2001. 
SMER's initiative was supported by HZDS and the Free Forum. 
Subsequently, parliament passed a proposal binding the GOS to 
provide full information to citizens about possible risks 
they face when entering the capitalization stage of the 
pension system. 
 
Secret Communist Era Files Revealed 
 
SIPDIS 
----------------------------------- 
4. (U) On December 9, emboffs got a behind-the-scenes tour 
from Jan Langos and his staff at the Institute for the Memory 
of the Nation, the GOS organization responsible for 
administering the secret policy archive.  At the end of 
November, the organization began publishing indexes of files 
about former StB (secret service) agents and collaborators. 
The first set of files made public are from Kosice, the StB 
headquarters for Eastern Slovakia.  Files from Bratislava 
(Western Slovakia) and Banska Bystrica (Central Slovakia) 
will be published in 2005.  The Institute's website hits have 
grown a hundred-fold since the information became available 
on-line. The media have reported everyday about current 
public figures who have records of collaborating with the 
StB, including some high-level officials from governing 
coalition parties. 
 
5. (U) Emboffs toured the archives and saw the future reading 
room where researchers and ordinary citizens will have access 
to the original files.  Emboffs observed the high-tech but 
labor-intensive process of digitizing the paper and 
microfiche files and editing the electronic version to remove 
data about innocent third parties and personal information 
such as birth dates health status, and home addresses. 
Langos' dedication to sharing information about how the 
 
communist regime spied on its own population has not abated, 
despite physical attacks on him and his wife (ref B) and 
continuous threats from anonymous letter writers. 
 
6. (U) Langos said the 2005 state budget would not cut the 
Institute's funds for the coming year, nor would it increase 
them for research and publication activities, which the law 
mandates they carry out.  The organization will be able to 
continue its work at current levels. 
 
World War II-era Restitution 
---------------------------- 
7. (U) Langos mentioned that the Institute for the Memory of 
the Nation is charged with opening secret files from the 
communist regime and the war-time Slovak state that 
collaborated with the Nazis.  There are detailed accounts of 
activities from the World War II period, including lists of 
property confiscations.  (Comment: We are not optimistic 
regarding the contribution these archives might make to 
restitution cases.  The Jewish Community already searched the 
National archives to compile information for restitution 
claims.  In addition, the restitution bill being re-worked in 
parliament concerns only agricultural lands and buildings 
located on these lands; it was mainly drafted to satisfy the 
needs of Catholic church which owned farms and other real 
estate in the past that have not yet been returned.  Jewish 
Community representatives say the legislation concerns their 
community only marginally.  End comment.) 
 
Foreign Policy Debate 
--------------------- 
8. (U) On Decembar 10, two elite panels from the Slovak 
foreign policy establishment discussed the guiding principles 
of Slovak foreign policy.  Jozef Banas, SDKU MP, defined the 
debate as a question of values versus pragmatism and argued 
for a pragmatic foreign policy.  He advocated more active 
Slovak participation in NATO and said Slovak foreign policy 
debates requires greater research and substance.  Major print 
and broadcast media representatives agreed, saying they do 
not report on global issues because politicians and think 
tanks refuse to comment on these issues.  NGO representatives 
present cited the lack of grants available to fund research 
to form intelligent opinions. 
 
9. (U) Urban Rusnak, author of the MFA's "Mid-Term Strategy 
for Foreign Policy until 2015," argued for a moral-pragmatic 
balance in foreign policy, saying the GOS should focus on two 
to three priorities -- Ukraine, the western Balkans, and 
perhaps Russia.  Rusnak and Banas agreed that the GOS should 
prepare opinions only on matters of immediate interest due to 
limited resources.  Milan Nic of the Pontis Foundation said 
the GOS should formulate positions on all EU debates, as the 
unanimous voting mechanism gives the GOS a veto. 
 
10. (U) Martin Butora, former Slovak Ambassador to the U.S. 
and president of the Institute for Public Affairs, argued 
Slovakia must develop an institutional capacity to contribute 
to foreign policy debates, especially on human rights and 
democracy issues.  He denied the competition between a 
values-based and pragmatic strategic outlook, noting that 
democracy and human rights promotion has economic and 
commercial advantages as proven over the past fifteen years 
by the Visegrad-4 countries.  Butora said a Slovak 
institution like the Helsinki Commission with governmental 
support but an independent character would build the 
institutional capacity necessary to support democracy and 
civil society abroad. 
 
Ambassador Raises TIP with Justice Minister 
------------------------------------------ 
11. (C) During a farewell call on Justice Minister Daniel 
Lipsic, the Ambassador raised the need for a national action 
plan against trafficking in persons.  Lipsic described some 
of the measures his ministry has taken to combat TIP, 
including raising penalties for trafficking children. 
Further details to follow septel. 
THAYER 
 
 
NNNN