US embassy cable - 05BRATISLAVA230

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRATISLAVA 000230 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/15/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, PINR, LO 
SUBJECT: RELEASE OF SECRET POLICE FILES CONTINUES TO CAUSE 
CONTROVERSY 
 
REF: A. BRATISLAVA 79 
     B. BRATISLAVA 135 
 
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Scott N. Thayer for reason 1.5(b). 
 
1.(SBU) Parliament authorized the Institute of the National 
Memory to publish all communist secret police (StB) files of 
"collaborators,8 the highest level of StB informers.  The 
Institute is in the process of publishing the files on the 
Internet by region, starting in eastern Slovakia.  An 
unlikely coalition of church leaders and politicians recently 
advocated ending the file opening process before it reaches 
the Bratislava region.  The Ecumenical Council of Churches 
claims public access to the files is damaging and should be 
ended.  (NOTE: StB files reveal some church leaders also were 
communist collaborators.)  Notable MPs like Vladimir Meciar 
and Robert Fico indicated they could potentially support the 
idea.  Lutheran Bishop Julius Filo and the Catholic Church 
have opposed the closure.  Director of the Institute of the 
National Memory, Jan Langos, told emboff that he does not 
think the move will gather momentum. 
 
2. (SBU) Speaker of Parliament Pavol Hrusovsky (KDH) 
announced that he was registered as a &Candidate for 
Cooperation8 with the Communist secret police (StB). 
Hrusovsky says that he did not cooperate with the StB and has 
emphasized he was not registered as a &collaborator.8 
Hrusovsky announced he will sue Markiza television, closely 
linked to Minister of Economy Pavol Rusko (ANO), for its 
broadcast of Hrusovsky,s admission.  Hrusovsky says the 
broadcast labeled him a collaborator of the StB.  (COMMENT: 
Hrusovsky,s distinction between &Candidate for 
Cooperation8 and &Collaborator8 is real and legitimate but 
easily lost on the public.  His lawsuit announcement seems to 
be an attempt to bring this distinction to the fore and 
preemptively de-emphasize his involvement with the StB. END 
COMMENT.) 
 
3. (U) Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the Kosice Technical 
University, Jaroslav Jarema, resigned.  Jarema previously 
refused to resign after it was revealed that the StB 
registered him as a collaborator (Ref A).  Two Vice Deans 
resigned in protest after Jarema refused to give up his 
position (Ref B).  Jarema finally gave in to sustained 
pressure from students and colleagues. 
 
4. (C) Langos publicly stated the Institute does not have the 
StB file of Archbishop Jan Sokol (Ref B).  He said the 
Institute knows his file has not been destroyed.  Langos said 
in a TV debate that politicians from the KDH and HZDS had 
Sokol,s file in their hands in the early nineties; Langos 
called on them to tell the public what was in the file.  The 
Deputy Papal Nuncio suggested to Charge privately that it was 
"only natural" there be a file on Sokol, since his 
appointment as bishop during the communist era would only 
have been tolerated had there been some tacit or implicit 
commitment not to attempt to destabilize the regime, but that 
this is not the same as being an StB agent. 
 
5. (C) Comment: Controversy over the StB files will continue 
for some time.  Given the long period of time which 
transpired before their release, the acknowledged 
disapearance of material from files, and that they remained 
in control of intelligence services still largely staffed by 
former StB personnel until recently, there is legitimate 
concern among many regarding their accuracy and validity.  On 
the other hand, the files that we have randomly selected to 
review on visits to the institute's archive appear to be 
carefully kept records that cover long periods and are 
unlikely to have been fabricated. 
THAYER 
 
 
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