US embassy cable - 05BRATISLAVA835

C O N F I D E N T I A L  BRATISLAVA 000835 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
FOR EUR/NCE AND G/TIP 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/06/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, SMIG, PHUM, KDEM, SOCI, LO 
SUBJECT: SLOVAKIA POLITICAL ROUNDUP, OCTOBER 11, 2005 
 
REF: BRATISLAVA 755 
 
Classified By: DCM Lawrence R. Silverman for Reasons 1.4 (B) and (D). 
 
IS NEW POLITICAL PARTY TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE? 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
1.  (SBU)  Despite the announcement that a group of former 
ANO MPs lead by Lubomir Lintner will form a new political 
party, other politicians -- including members of the 
coalition who work closely with Lintner -- feel it is "too 
late" to begin a new party.  Lintner, never considered a 
particularly dynamic political leader, may succeed in 
creating a new party, but its chances of rising from the 
ashes of ANO to meet the parliamentary threshold are slim to 
none. 
 
KANIK AND SDKU: A PAIR OF STAR CROSSED LOVERS 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
2.  (C)  In an October 4 courtesy call just 24 hours before 
he announced his resignation, Minister of Labor Ludovit Kanik 
(a member of the Democratic Party, or DS) told Ambassador 
that DS was planning an official merger with SDKU in the near 
future, even though there is some internal division about 
whether or not this is the right path down which to proceed. 
SDKU, whose polling numbers have remained low in recent 
months, needs any ally it can get before the 2006 elections, 
and will welcome the declaration of support.  Meanwhile, the 
DS presidium finds Kanik's vision unacceptable; they have 
called for an extraordinary meeting on October 6 to discuss 
the possibility, and recently elevated a staunch opponent of 
the merger to First Vice Chairman (making him the second in 
command behind Kanik).  Local DS clubs in Bratislava, Kosice, 
and Piestany have also expressed their opposition to becoming 
part of SDKU. 
 
SMK MAY TRY TO KEEP FRIENDS CLOSE, AND SMER EVEN CLOSER 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
3.  (C)  Despite the message given to the Ambassador by 
Deputy Prime Minister Pal Csaky that the coalition would 
consider working with opposition leader Robert Fico if it 
meant staying in power (under what Csaky described as a "keep 
your friends close and your enemies even closer"), SDKU MPs 
gave a different message to the Ambassador.  MP Roman Vavrik 
told the Ambassador that he would be unable to look his son 
in the eye if he worked together with Fico; Milan Hort, a 
close friend and partner of Prime Minister Dzurinda, went a 
step further, telling the Ambassador it was not a possibility 
and projecting some of the personality conflict between 
Dzurinda and Fico into the conversation.  Frustrated by the 
favorable press coverage given to Fico and the opposition, 
Hort said that the media was "Fico's rectal probe." 
 
SLOVAKIA JOINS TASK FORCE ON HOLOCAUST EDUCATION 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
4.  (C)  Slovakia recently announced that it will request 
full membership in the Task Force for International 
Cooperation on Holocaust Education, an international group in 
which Slovakia has participated as an observer since 1998. 
Slovakia, whose lack of ethnic diversity and lingering 
problems with fascist and nationalist political parties has 
made it difficult to shed its image as Hitler's wartime ally, 
likely sees this as an important way of demonstrating that 
the current government does not support hate and intolerance. 
 Contacts in the Jewish community told us they were pleased 
by the announcement. 
 
TRAFFICKING POLICE BACK IN THE BUDGET 
------------------------------------- 
 
5.  (SBU)  Emerging from a rocky debate within the Ministry 
of Finance, the proposal to train and fund an additional 14 
police officers dedicated to trafficking in persons will be 
included in next year's GOS budget proposal.  The additional 
officers -- financed this year by surplus funds by the 
Ministry of Interior -- would be based in the border regions 
and will focus on investigating and breaking up suspected 
trafficking rings. 
 
NATIONALIST PARTY CHIEF DECLARED "ENEMY OF THE YEAR" BY NGO 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
 
6.  (U)  Chairman of the Slovak Nationalist Party (SNS) and 
Mayor of Zilina Jan Slota received the dubious distinction of 
being named "Enemy of the Year" for ignoring the Free Access 
to Information law in Slovakia (the Slovak equivalent of 
FOIA).  The award, given by Open Society Foundation and the 
NGO Alliance for Support of Local Democracy, highlighted the 
failure of Slota to turn over public records -- including 
even, we are told by some sources, information about the 
 
salaries of Zilina's public officials (himself included). 
VALLEE 
 
 
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