VZCZCXRO2508
PP RUEHAST
DE RUEHSL #0817/01 2791448
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 061448Z OCT 06
FM AMEMBASSY BRATISLAVA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0353
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 0014

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRATISLAVA 000817 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM EAID PREL ELAB KDEM PINR AF RO BU
LO 
SUBJECT: SLOVAKIA POLITICAL ROUND UP OCTOBER 6, 2006 
 
REF: A. BRATISLAVA 733 
 
     ¶B. BRATISLAVA 754 
     ¶C. BRATISLAVA 764 
     ¶D. BRATISLAVA 719 
 
BRATISLAVA 00000817  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
NEW NATIONAL COORDINATOR FOR TIP NAMED 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) The new National Coordinator to Combat Trafficking 
in Persons will be Jozef Bucek, the new State Secretary at 
the Ministry of Interior.  This effectively raises the 
political clout of the National Coordinator position by 
several notches.  Bucek, a Smer party member from Kosice, 
does not have a background in TIP issues but reportedly will 
start meeting with experts later this month.  Several 
experienced TIP stakeholders note that Bucek a has large task 
to get back the lost momentum on TIP efforts that occurred 
while the National Coordinator post sat vacant for two 
months.  (BIO NOTE: Bucek is a long-time Embassy contact with 
a positive view of the U.S.  He has two teenage daughters. 
He has never been to the U.S. - the closest he has gotten is 
Canada - mostly due to his extreme fear of flying.  The DCM 
will pay his courtesy call on Bucek next week. END NOTE.) 
 
NITRA ATTACK - THE TRUTH MAY LIE IN THE MIDDLE 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶2. (SBU) A contact with ties to the Ministry of the Interior 
informed Emboff that the alleged skinhead attack on an 
ethnic-Hungarian university student in Nitra in August might 
have happened after all (refs A-C).  The young woman may have 
received a light beating but then tried to make her injuries 
appear worse than they actually were because she believed 
that a few punches were "not enough" to make her case to the 
police, the source explained. 
 
AFGHANIS IN SLOVAKIA 
-------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Poloffs met with Slovak human rights expert Zuzana 
Fialova who worked in northeast Afghanistan for several years 
on community development, education, and human rights issues, 
first as part of a German PRT and then on an independent 
contract.  She received a grant from SlovakAid to bring three 
diverse groups of Afghanis to Slovakia on study tours to 
share Slovakia's experience with political and economic 
transformation.  Fialova pointed out that foreign experts can 
lecture endlessly about democracy but there is nothing akin 
to seeing with one's own eyes.  Fialova added Afghanistan's 
transformation will take many years and Americans should not 
lose patience.  (COMMENT. This is yet another example of the 
way a small country like Slovakia is contributing to broader 
goals of "transformational diplomacy." END COMMENT.) 
 
HOW TO IMPROVE SLOVAK AID? 
-------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU)  Fialova was critical of the way SlovakAid sets 
development priorities and issues grants.  Currently the 
small amount of aid Slovakia has to offer is spread too 
thinly and does not bring enough positive publicity to the 
country.  "What good does it do to build one school in 
Afghanistan?  The Germans built 300 and the Slovak 
contribution is invisible."  She would like to see the MFA do 
more strategic planning, focus on the strongest skills of its 
NGOs (such as sharing Slovakia's transformation expertise and 
developing civil society), and concentrate diplomatic efforts 
and development aid in a few key countries.  She criticized 
the fact that Slovakia does not have an embassy in 
Afghanistan, despite its military presence and assistance 
program, which makes it much harder to coordinate the 
military and development aid.  (COMMENT. This situation also 
complicated the donation of excess military equipment from 
Slovakia to Afghanistan last year, which could only be 
arranged with extraordinary U.S. efforts. END COMMENT.) 
 
¶5. (SBU) Currently the MFA's SlovakAid office plans its 
program budget, and the UNDP office in Slovakia and NPOA, a 
Slovak NGO contracted by the MFA, administer the grants.  On 
September 28 the Cabinet approved the concept for Slovakia to 
develop an aid agency.  In his October 5 courtesy call with 
new MFA State Secretary (Deputy Minister) Olga Algayerova 
(who is responsible for SlovakAid and development issues 
generally), the DCM offered U.S. expertise in managing 
development assistance.  Algayerova said she would greatly 
welcome our suggestions.  We will work to identify and match 
decision-makers in Slovakia with U.S. experts who can 
positively influence this project during the coming months. 
 
SLOVAK LABOR MARKET TO OPEN TO ROMANIANS AND BULGARIANS 
 
BRATISLAVA 00000817  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
¶6. (U) According to media reports, Slovakia intends to open 
its labor market to Romanians and Bulgarians from the first 
day of their entry into the EU.  Slovaks felt as though they 
were discriminated against in the labor market by members of 
"old Europe" upon their EU accession and don't want to do the 
same to the newcomers.  At least one commentator predicts 
little impact by the opening of the labor market because, 
with a minimum wage of USD 253 (7600 SKK) per month, wages 
are already quite low even for Slovaks. 
 
HOW DRY IS THE MFA? 
------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) An official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 
claims that one of FM Kubis's first acts upon taking the 
reins of the ministry was to ban the practice of offering 
alcohol to guests.  Our contact had mixed feelings about the 
new policy, on the one hand recognizing it as modern and 
professional, but on the other hand regretting that a 
traditional expression of Slovak hospitality has been 
forsaken.  Apparently, the Russian Ambassador now brings his 
own bottle of vodka to the MFA and insists on being offered a 
shot from it whenever he visits. 
 
VALLEE