US embassy cable - 05BRATISLAVA434

C O N F I D E N T I A L  BRATISLAVA 000434 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
FOR EUR/NCE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/02/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, PHUM, PARM, KCOR, KIRF, LO, EXBS, UN 
SUBJECT: SLOVAKIA POLITICAL ROUNDUP, MAY 2005 
 
REF: BRATISLAVA 314 
 
SMER BECOMES MEMBER OF SOCIALIST INTERNATIONAL 
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1.  (C)  Opposition political party Smer (reftel) met its 
long-held goal and became a member of Socialist International 
(SI).  Smer MP Edita Angyalova, a former IV participant and 
one of Slovakia's youngest politicians, downplayed Smer's 
membership in SI, and noted that if the party were to become 
more socialist she would leave immediately, as would others. 
The average age of the Smer MPs is quite young, and according 
to Angyalova, they are too young to be branded as Socialists 
or to support causes they don't believe in.  However, she 
said, the party's membership in Socialist International was 
necessary; there are no European parties that represent the 
"middle ground" that Smer occupies, and the right of the 
spectrum was already occupied by coalition parties. 
 
2.  (C)  Angyalova is mostly engaged in social issues 
concerning employment-related legislation, the Vatican 
treaty, and issues concerning young Slovaks, but finds that 
she is frequently attacked by coalition parties as 
propagating "radical left" ideas.  Despite this criticism, 
she feels Smer's proposals are not any different from those 
found in Germany or France.  In her opinion, public 
discussion and political dialogue is at a very "low level" in 
Slovakia, and lately Smer has found it difficult to react to 
the constant attacks on party leader Robert Fico (which 
Angyalova described as "simple name calling").  Angyalova is 
continually shocked by the lack of professionalism in 
Parliament and the coarse words that are exchanged in the 
halls. 
 
SLOVAKIA CONVICTS ITS FIRST MP ON CORRUPTION CHARGES 
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3.  (U)  On May 9, Slovakia's judicial system handed down its 
first criminal conviction of a sitting member of Parliament. 
HZDS MP Gabriel Karlin, who was caught in November 2003 
accepting a USD 16,800 kickback from a contractor in Banska 
Bystrica, was sentenced to one year in prison and a USD 3,333 
fine.  This marks the first successful prosecution of a high 
ranking official for corruption, though Karlin immediately 
appealed the conviction.  Milan Mraz, Karlin's alleged 
accomplice in the corruption affair, had his case dismissed 
from the district court because of a lack of evidence. 
 
TRACKER SYSTEM HELPS GOS MONITOR TRADE OF SENSITIVE GOODS 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
4.  (SBU)  Frantisek Babuska, head of the Ministry of 
Economy's Department of Sensitive Goods Trading Management, 
described GOS use of the "Tracker" export control and 
licensing system it received from the USG in April 2002.  We 
recently provided an upgrade to the Tracker system, and will 
provide additional training in July.  Babuska hopes the new 
system, which is more "user-friendly" than the GOS' previous 
system, will allow the Ministry and the Customs Directorate 
to develop a database of the quantity and types of sensitive 
goods actually exported from Slovakia. 
 
5.  (SBU)  The current Slovak system of export controls meets 
EU standards, and Babuska said the Ministry receives roughly 
600 applications for licenses each year for civilian 
materials, and 600 applications for military materials.  In 
addition to the Ministry of Economy, several agencies 
participate in the process of reviewing individual 
applications for approval or denial, including the Ministry 
of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of the 
Interior, National Security Office, and the Customs 
Directorate.  The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has veto power 
over licensing for export of sensitive goods. 
 
SLOVAKIA PREPARING FOR UNSC SEAT 
--------------------------------- 
 
6.  (C)  Oksana Tomova, Director of the UN Department at the 
MFA, told Poloffs that Slovakia is dedicating extra resources 
to its UN Mission in New York in anticipation of a Security 
Council (UNSC) seat in 2006.  Tomova said Slovakia is eager 
to demonstrate that it "is ready to handle all items on the 
UN agenda."  An additional six diplomats will work at the UN 
Mission.  Funding has been approved for the first six months, 
the MFA is still seeking additional funding to keep this 
surge capacity going for the remainder of Slovakia's UNSC 
tenure.  Tomova said the biggest challenge was an increased 
emphasis on Africa, noting that "70 percent of the Council's 
agenda is Africa, and Slovakia only has three Embassies on 
that continent." 
 
POLICE BREAK UP MAFIA FUNERAL 
 
----------------------------- 
 
7.  (U)  The April 28 funeral of assassinated mafioso Jozef 
Estok in the eastern city Kosice resulted in a show of force 
by the police, as the Police Chief asserted that the funeral 
constituted an "illegal gathering" that had not been reported 
and sanctioned in advance.  The authorities called in several 
buses full of police academy recruits to disperse the crowd 
of over 500 people attending the funeral; they later deployed 
police dogs and even water cannons to force people from the 
cemetery.  hile Justice Minister Daniel Lipsic said he 
supported the action taken by the police and noted that the 
police action resulted in several important arrests of mafia 
figures, several attorneys and activists have noted that 
funerals are rarely considered public gathering requiring 
government permits.  The father of the late Estok filed a 
complaint with the General Prosecutor's office. 
 
SLOVAKIA NEXT BEST THING TO HEAVEN? 
----------------------------------- 
 
8.  (C)  Slovakia's most recent census shows that over 80 
percent of Slovaks are practicing Christians, and some church 
leaders have indicated to Emboffs that they prefer it that 
way.  An interlocutor from the Papal Nuncio (who previously 
served in Sudan and Israel) told Poloffs that for a Vatican 
Representative, Slovakia is "paradise," as the pro-Catholic 
government "is proactive on our issues."  When asked about 
the recent lack of momentum on a Vatican-supported 
conscientious objector law (which would have excused 
Catholics from performing work they deemed contrary to their 
faith, and appears to have stalled in Parliament), the 
Monsignor shrugged and said simply "if not here in Slovakia, 
forget it." 
 
9.  (C)  Meanwhile, the head of Slovakia's Ecumenical Council 
told Emboffs that the organization would not be opposed to 
working with Slovakia's relatively small and unorganized 
Muslim community, but that it is important for Muslims and 
other religions here to remember that "Slovakia is Christian 
country, and that they are guests here...  We do not oppose 
their presence, but we don't want to see Mosques popping up 
everywhere."  He did not elaborate on the status of 
Slovakia's historic Jewish population. 
THAYER 
 
 
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