US embassy cable - 05BRATISLAVA735

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRATISLAVA 000735 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/16/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, SOCI, LO 
SUBJECT: "NO ROMA WALL HERE" PRESOV AUTHORITIES TELL 
AMBASSADOR 
 
REF: BRATISLAVA 661 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Rodolphe M. Vallee for Reasons 1.4 (B) and (D 
). 
 
1.  (SBU)  During a September 13 visit to Presov in eastern 
Slovakia, Ambassador raised the issue of the so-called "Roma 
Wall" (reftel) with the two Deputy Mayors (Presov Mayor Milan 
Benc was out of the country).  Both officials assured the 
Ambassador that no wall would be built separating Roma from 
non-Roma citizens.  They did not, however, rule out the 
possibility that several security cameras would be installed 
in the Stara Tehelna neighborhood, ostensibly to make 
residents of a nearby retirement home feel more secure.  As 
one of the Deputy Mayors explained, the non-Roma citizens had 
filed a lengthy petition expressing their concern for the 
safety of their property, and the city felt compelled to take 
some kind of action. 
 
2.  (SBU)  During the course of the courtesy call the Deputy 
Mayors reiterated to the Ambassador that Presov is seeking EU 
structural development funds for the construction of an 
industrial park in their city.  The Ambassador took the 
opportunity to emphasize that the international community and 
potential investors would not react well to the construction 
of a Roma wall.  He also added that our own country has 
struggled in the past with tensions between communities and 
that education, tolerance, and dialogue were preferred 
avenues of reconciling communities. 
 
ROMA PLENIPOTENTIARY CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC 
------------------------------------------ 
 
3.  (C)  The following day, the DCM hosted a luncheon for 
prominent Roma issue opinion leaders from both within and 
outside of the GOS.  Klara Orgovanova, the GOS Roma 
Plenipotentiary, seemed pleased by the news of the 
Ambassador's meeting with the Presov officials, but remained 
wary (and perhaps for good reason; a September 14 Pravda 
newspaper story claimed that the city council in Presov 
passed plans to erect a chain link fence in place of a 
"wall").  Orgovanova said she would be traveling to Presov 
herself to tell the Mayor that Deputy Prime Minister for 
Human Rights Pal Csaky would himself be intervening in the 
situation. 
 
4.  (C)  Other lunch participants suggested that Slovakia 
needed to more accurately portray the Roma in the media, 
noting that while coverage of the Roma has improved over 
time, there was still very little Roma representation within 
the media itself (aside from the USG funded Roma Press 
Center).  We also emphasized that discrimination against Roma 
children in schools should not be tolerated at the national 
level, regardless of views at the local level. 
 
MINISTRY OF CULTURE: WHAT ROMA MINORITY? 
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5.  (C)  COMMENT:  While NGO and government education 
consultants agreed that job training and education were 
immediate needs, Robert Dohanyos, the Director General of the 
Section for Minority Cultures at the Ministry of Culture, 
suggested that Roma should be sent to special work programs 
where they would be taught traditional Roma vocations.  His 
suggestion resulted in the rolling of many eyes, and 
reinforced the belief of some lunch participants that the 
Section for Minority Cultures exists first and foremost to 
protect Slovakia's largest minority: the Hungarians.  END 
COMMENT. 
VALLEE 
 
 
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