US embassy cable - 05PRAGUE981

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PRAGUE 000981 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR CA/VO, R, EUR AND INR/B 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/28/2015 
TAGS: PREL, MARR, PGOV, CVIS, EZ, IZ 
SUBJECT: CZECH FM ON IRAQ, VISAS AND DOMESTIC POLITICS 
 
REF: STATE 11182 
 
Classified By: Political Officer Kimberly C. Krhounek for reasons 1.4(b 
) and (d). 
 
 1.  (C) Summary.  The Ambassador met with Czech FM Cyril 
Svoboda on June 27 primarily to discuss an extension of the 
Czech military police unit in Iraq through 2006 (UN reform 
issues covered septel).  Svoboda said that the GOCR intended 
to ask the parliament to extend the troop deployment this 
fall and he believed the request would have solid support in 
both chambers, despite the possibility of the issue getting 
caught up in early posturing for the June 2006 parliamentary 
elections.  The two also discussed the work of the Bilateral 
Consular Working Group (BCWG) and the status of relocation of 
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and Svoboda provided his 
views on potential new political configurations after the 
next elections.  End summary. 
 
----------------------------- 
FUTURE OF COALITION IN IRAQ 
----------------------------- 
 
2.  (C) Svoboda was very receptive to the Ambassador's 
request to extend the Czech military police presence in Iraq 
through 2006.  Svoboda stressed that it was necessary for the 
coalition allies to remain in Iraq until the new government 
can take over the security situation.  He said that current 
Defense Minister Kuehnl, new PM Paroubek and he all support 
the extension and that in general a solid majority in both 
chambers of parliament do so as well.  He added that he was 
pleased with the position of new PM Jiri Paroubek, who after 
a trip to London stated, "We will stay in Iraq." The one 
difficulty that Svoboda warned about was that the atmosphere 
in the parliament would likely be charged with the upcoming 
parliamentary elections, which will take place in June 2006. 
Some of the left wing members of the governing coalition 
could be against an extension of the mandate as part of the 
pre-election political positioning. 
 
3.  (C) The Ambassador thanked Svoboda for his support as 
well as that of the government as a whole, stating that the 
strong stance taken by the Czechs encourages other coalition 
members to remain firm as well.  He also praised Svoboda's 
personal support as particularly critical to the long-term 
commitment of the Czechs, as Svoboda has been integral to 
keeping the GOCR on track in Iraq, throughout the political 
upheaval of the past year which brought about several changes 
of Prime Minister, Defense Minister and other cabinet 
positions.  Svoboda reaffirmed his staunch support for 
reconstruction of Iraq, stating that Israel is currently the 
only democracy in the Middle East and that now is the window 
of opportunity to make a difference in Iraq.  Svoboda 
attended the recent conference on Iraq in Brussels and was 
pleased with the meetings and with the extensive attendance 
of more than 80 countries, including all of Iraq's immediate 
neighbors in the region. 
 
------------------------------ 
VISAS AND EXPIRED PASSPORTS 
------------------------------ 
 
4.  (C) The Ambassador praised the work of the Bilateral 
Consular Working Group, noting that the most recent meeting 
on June 1 was productive and that a couple of sub-working 
groups had been established to work on the specific issues of 
the Czech introduction of a biometric passport and on 
overstay rates and assumptions.  Svoboda was pleased that the 
issue of new EU member states joining the Visa Waiver Program 
was discussed at the June 20 U.S.- EU summit in Washington. 
He added that while this issue is still politically a "hot 
potato," it is helpful and important to see signs of 
progress.  The Ambassador agreed and noted that Washington 
was focusing discussion on various aspects of U.S. visa 
policy.  The Ambassador also took the opportunity to once 
again urge the Czech government to allow its citizens to keep 
expired passports that had valid U.S. visas in them.  Some 25 
percent of the current Consular Section workload comes from 
the current MOI practice of retaining expired passports, 
requiring Czech citizens to obtain new visas anytime they 
obtain a new passport.  It would save both sides time and 
money if the Ministry of Interior would simply cancel the 
expired passports and return them to their owners with the 
valid visas intact, as is the practice in the U.S. and most 
of the EU.  Svoboda acknowledged the problem, but said that 
any change in the Czech practice would necessitate a change 
in one of the existing laws. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
WHEELING AND DEALING IN CZECH POLITICS 
--------------------------------------- 
 
5.  (C) The Ambassador took the opportunity to ask Svoboda 
his opinions about the new government under PM Jiri Paroubek. 
 Svoboda answered quite frankly that, "Paroubek has one plan 
now, to be in power after the next elections.  He will make a 
deal with anyone."  Svoboda added that Paroubek was getting 
stronger and said that he believed Paroubek could restore 
CSSD to it's previous level of 25 percent voter support. 
However, he added that Paroubek's "flexibility" was 
"dangerous" since he believed the PM would form a coalition 
with anyone, including the Communist party if they would make 
a few changes.  He could also envision a scenario in which 
the leftist CSSD would willingly again form a grand coalition 
with the Civic Democrats (ODS), the largest party on the 
right.  This is a problem for Svoboda's party, the Christian 
Democrats (KDU-CSL), which views itself as the logical 
coalition partner for ODS. He noted that for a center-right 
coalition to form, it would require that KDU-CSL gain 
approximately 25 seats in parliament, while the Civic 
Democrats would need another 80 seats.  This is difficult to 
achieve, and may make ODS look more favorably on forming a 
"grand coalition" with the Paroubek's Social Democrats if 
they think their voters would accept it  (NOTE: There was a 
previous grand coalition between ODS and CSSD from 1998-2002, 
which is commonly described as a period of increased 
corruption and non-transparent political deal-making). 
 
6.  (C) Svoboda expressed disappointment that the credibility 
of his party, KDU-CSL, had been "nearly destroyed" as a 
coalition partner.  Since it had been in government with 
parties on both the right and the left, it was a convenient 
scapegoat and had been accused of betraying its coalition 
partners on all sides.  This made the current situation very 
difficult for the party as it strategized on possible 
government formations in 2006. 
 
---------------------------------- 
RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY 
---------------------------------- 
 
7.  (C) Finally, the Ambassador touched briefly on the 
progress made to date in efforts to relocate Radio Free 
Europe/Radio Liberty to a more secure location in Prague.  He 
informed Svoboda that RFE/RL and the State Department's OBO 
office completed the final report earlier this month, 
recommending that RFE/RL accept the final offer made by the 
Orco property group to build a new facility in Prague 10. 
RFE/RL's deadline to accept this offer is July 31, and it has 
already circulated the report to both its supervisory board 
(the Broadcasting Board of Governors) and OMB and received 
their approvals.  The report is now with the relevant 
authorizing and appropriations committees of Congress and we 
are hopeful that the final approvals will be received 
shortly.  Once the contract is signed, we will use our 
Embassy's good offices to meet with city officials and try to 
expedite the planning and construction permits, and we hope 
to have the support of the MFA as well.  Svoboda assured us 
that he would do anything in his power to assist us in the 
project. 
 
8.  (C) Comment.  Svoboda was very relaxed and open in this 
meeting and he appears to have survived the various political 
machinations of the past year with both his post, and sense 
of humor, intact.  It was clear from our discussion that most 
issues in the coming year will be colored by the 2006 
parliamentary elections, as the various parties start to 
position themselves for the campaign.  We do not expect this 
to detract from the transatlantic relationship or the Czech 
commitment to troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, as 
there is strong U.S. support here across the political 
spectrum, but we should be prepared to hear increased 
rhetoric and see more caution in the months ahead.  End 
comment. 
CABANISS