VZCZCXRO4954
PP RUEHIK RUEHYG
DE RUEHSL #0357/01 1250738
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 050738Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY BRATISLAVA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9801
INFO RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRATISLAVA 000357 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR LO
SUBJECT: MECIAR SAYS HZDS WANTS BACK INTO GOVERNMENT 
 
 
 ¶1. (SBU) Summary. Former PM Vladimir Meciar told the program 
conference of his Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) 
party on 21 April 2006 that HZDS would like to be in 
government after June 17, elections and is ready to align 
with almost any party to achieve that end. Meciar seemed to 
focus as much on defending HZDS, past performance in 
government as its future prospects. He expressed only 
moderate criticism of the current government and made no 
specific attacks against ministers or personalities. 
(Comment. Throughout Meciar,s mind-numbingly boring speech, 
poloff could hear cynical comments coming from party members 
seated in rows further back. There was a clear impression 
that many delegates perceive Meciar as a precious symbol for 
voters, but otherwise as a hindrance.) End comment. End 
Summary 
 
SUBSTANCE 
------------------- 
¶2. (U) Meciar repeatedly and with a straight face took credit 
on behalf of HZDS for setting Slovakia on the path from 
totalitarianism and central planning to democracy and 
prosperity. HZDS, he said, laid the groundwork for all of 
Slovakia,s successes of recent years, including its 
accession to NATO and the EU in 2004. 
 
¶3. (U) Meciar denied that HZDS had run a corrupt or 
non-transparent government. "Our decisions and actions," he 
said, "were always public and open - even if our friends in 
the international community sometimes doubted us." Time will 
show, according to Meciar, that HZDS brought democratic 
reforms to Slovakia and participated in the international 
community for the benefit of peace and stability. 
 
¶4. (U) Meciar said the EU and NATO are not competitors and 
Slovakia should remain a link between the US and the EU. 
Slovakia needs the EU to remain competitive in the world. 
Small states, Meciar said, cannot hope to compete with the 
likes of the USA, Japan, India and China. HZDS is not 
anti-globalization or isolationist. It is for balanced 
relations between NATO and Europe and between Russia and 
Ukraine. 
 
¶5. (U) Meciar took a dim view of the move to an all-volunteer 
Army. He said that while it was a necessary step, it had been 
done poorly and the Army's effectiveness had been diminished. 
The Slovak Army is not just for fighting wars and terrorism, 
he said, but also for responding to accidents and disasters 
at home and providing civil assistance during disturbances. 
Meciar also criticized reforms that had led to the Army 
procuring fewer weapons at home, and contributing to the 
downward slide of the once great Slovak arms industry. 
 
¶6. (U) HZDS has always taken a positive view of the EU and of 
Slovakia having a place in it. Meciar said that for HZDS 
further integration of Europe is necessary and the proposed 
European Constitutional Treaty is still alive. Expansion of 
the EU to include the Balkan countries and Ukraine is a 
priority for HZDS, but it should be done slowly and well to 
avoid destabilizing the existing EU. Slovakia should keep its 
currency longer, and switch to the Euro only in 2012. 
 
¶7. (U) HZDS does not want the EU to become a sovereign state. 
Meciar contended he is not a nationalist, but that he is 
proud of Slovakia. "We wanted to be at the table and now we 
are. But we don't want to remain the poorest country at the 
table." In one of his few direct criticisms of the current 
government, Meciar said economic growth has been put at risk 
by the failure to invest in education reforms. Meciar said 
Slovakia can not afford to risk its high rates of economic 
growth now, just when it is showing signs of catching up with 
other EU member states. A few years back, according to 
Meciar, Slovakia had both the cheapest and the best-educated 
workforce in the OECD. Now, because of rapid growth, it no 
longer has the cheapest and because of a lack of investment 
in education it has the least educated young workers. 
 
¶8. (U) Meciar said Slovakia has lost the title "Tatra Tiger" 
and should from now on be known as the "Tatra Tomcat" 
instead. The Tiger image was anyway not deserved, since the 
government was able to create it only by frittering away the 
resources left by the last HZDS regime, which Meciar claimed 
had left billions and billions of crowns in the state 
accounts. Meciar also accused the current government of 
privatizing the corporate economic underpinnings of the state 
and using the one-time profit to create an illusion of 
prosperity. HZDS is open to foreign investment, but a 
government must take care of its own interests first. Meciar 
would like Slovakia to produce weapons again. 
 
¶9. (U) HZDS,s priority in the next government will be to 
develop human capital. Meciar said this would be done not 
only by providing resources to Slovaks, but also by 
 
BRATISLAVA 00000357  002 OF 002 
 
 
encouraging skilled immigrants to come to Slovakia. Roma 
education is critical. Meciar supported the idea of educating 
youth from irresponsible homes in boarding schools. 
 
¶10. (U) Health is a civil right. There is no way back to the 
old system where a basic problem was that the system was 
producing losses. But reform in the health sector cannot be 
based only on market principles  - Slovakia is on the edge of 
social unrest and it is necessary to do something. 
 
¶11. (U) Meciar indicated that HZDS would support 
Constitutional changes including: 
- Eliminate the 50% clause from the law on referendum, so 
that referendum results will be valid with any turnout; 
- Establish more public control of NGOs; 
- MPs lose their seats if they leave the party for which they 
were elected; 
- Change the election system from proportional to 
majoritarian with one mandate for each election district. 
 
STYLE AND HUMOR 
------------------------------- 
¶12. (U) Meciar arrived 45 minutes after the scheduled start 
of the conference and made his way slowly to the stage, 
stopping along the way to shake hands. 
 
¶13. (U) When Meciar spoke of encouraging skilled immigrants, 
he claimed that on a recent trip to Turkey a businessman 
there told him "Turkey is already in the EU, we have 1 
million people in Germany." 
 
¶16. (SBU) Meciar said that an American businessman had 
recently told him that in America 1 out of 10 women are 
beautiful, while in Slovakia 1 out of 10 are ugly (Comment: 
the daily newspaper SME noted that representatives of the 
Embassy had been present and wondered if this joke had been 
translated. The poloff attending the conference had already 
heard the same line, and also the one allegedly told to 
Meciar by a Turkish businessman, several times in the past. 
End comment.) 
 
¶18. (SBU) Comment. Throughout Meciar,s mind-numbingly boring 
speech, poloff could hear cynical comments coming from party 
members seated in rows further back. There was a clear 
impression that many delegates perceive Meciar as a precious 
symbol for voters, but otherwise as a hindrance. End comment. 
VALLEE