VZCZCXRO8718
PP RUEHIK RUEHYG
DE RUEHSL #0139/01 0661643
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 071643Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY BRATISLAVA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0752
INFO RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRATISLAVA 000139 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR LO
SUBJECT: POLITICAL FALLOUT AFTER MUNITIONS EXPLOSION KILLS 
THREE 
 
REF: BRATISLAVA 051148Z MAR 07 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary. Three civilian-employees were killed and 
five remain missing after an explosion at the GOS owned 
Military Repair Company (VOP) in Novaky, Slovakia on Friday 
March 2. DefMin Frantisek Kasicky offered his resignation in 
the wake of the incident, but the offer was quickly rejected 
by PM Robert Fico and withdrawn after Kasicky received the 
public support of President Ivan Gasparovic on March 5. The 
offered resignation, and its refusal, were widely seen as 
political show. That show may be complicated by revelations 
on March 7 that the MoD -- and reportedly Kasicky himself -- 
ignored two letters from General Officers in August 2006 
concerning problems with the storage and disposal of excess 
munitions. End summary. 
 
¶2. (U) The explosion occurred at approximately 16:30 on the 
afternoon of Friday, March 2.  It was recorded by several 
passers-by with cameras and mobile phone videos. Witnesses 
said the shock of the explosion could be felt up to 10 
kilometers away. Images of the scene dominated the news 
during the entire weekend. As of Friday evening, the PM and 
DefMin had been joined at the scene by Minister of Interior 
Robert Kalinak and Minister of Health Ivan Valentovic. 
 
¶3. (U) Up to 49 people were working at VOP at the time of the 
explosion and up to 25 were in the hall where the explosion 
originated. The precise cause of the explosion is still not 
known. Kasicky, however, was quick to tell media that proper 
procedures were likely not being adhered to in the company. 
He cited the time taken to account for those who were 
supposed to be at work at the time of the blast as an example 
of poor management. VOP General Director Jozef Berak, who has 
said he feels personally responsible for the deaths, 
initially appeared to be the figure of greatest public blame. 
Since March 6, however, speculation has shifted to the 
possibility that too much ammunition was being stored, and 
likely being stored improperly, in the hall where rockets 
were being dismantled or refurbished. 
 
¶4. (U) Kasicky said he is "disillusioned" by the way the 
leadership of the company responded to the accident. He noted 
publicly that the company had failed to form a crisis 
management staff to coordinate the rescue efforts, but added 
that it is still too soon to decide what action will be taken 
and whether the company will continue to operate. Kasicky 
said publicly that though he does not feel "directly 
responsible" for the incident, he did consider it 
"politically proper" to offer his resignation to the 
president and the prime minister. Fico immediately responded 
in Kasicky,s defense, saying "the minister of defense has 
done the maximum within his power... I will never support a 
proposal to remove Minister Kasicky. In this spirit I will 
also inform the President. It would be a great shame if 
Minister Kasicky left his position." On March 5, Gasparovic 
likewise offered his support to Kasicky and the DefMin 
withdrew his offer to resign. 
 
¶5. (U) On March 6 several relatives of dead or missing 
employees were quoted in local media reflecting on poor 
standards at the facility and the dangers of improperly 
stored munitions. On March 7, two tabloid-style dailies 
reported on 2 letters sent to Kasicky's office in August 2006 
respectively by Major-General Jan Kacmar and General Lubomir 
Haberl. Both letters mentioned growing problems with 
too-little space for ammunition storage, and encouraged the 
MoD to take rapid action to develop new storage facilities. 
 
¶6. (U) Additionally, it is alleged that Kasicky ignored 
multiple requests to meet from the management of VOP. Kasicky 
defended himself by saying that the problem of insufficient 
facilities for the military's store of ammunition is not 
relevant to the case of VOP, which only handled ammunition 
destined for destruction. Ivo Samson, a respected foreign 
policy commentator, noted in media interviews that if MoD had 
constructed additional storage space for the military's 
ammunition by January as the General Officers advised, then 
the MoD would have had additional space for VOP's overflow of 
ammunition destined for destruction. 
 
¶7. (U) Further clouding the issue is an ongoing investigation 
of possible corruption within VOP. The management of the firm 
has been under investigation for conspiring to forge invoices 
and/or bills of lading. That investigation has now been 
rolled into the investigation of the explosion, which is 
being undertaken by the Civil police under the supervision of 
the Military prosecutor. Normally the Military Police would 
investigate any incident related to a joint stock company 
wholly-owned by the MoD, such as the Novaky facility. The 
arrangement with the Civil police has been touted as an 
 
BRATISLAVA 00000139  002 OF 002 
 
 
effort to avoid the appearance of any conflict of interest. 
 
¶8. (U) Former PM and SDKU leader Dzurinda criticized Fico and 
Gasparovic for focusing on themselves and Kasicky on his own 
chair instead of concentrating on the victims and the 
investigation.  He stressed that these first days should be 
dedicated to the memory of the victims and solidarity with 
their families, together with a maximum effort to investigate 
the cause of the tragedy.  Dzurinda also commented on the 
resignation process, stating that it is not possible for a 
minister to 'offer' his resignation.  Kasicky either resigns 
or not, but once he does the constitution states that the 
President must accept it. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Comment: It will take time for the GOS to 
investigate the fundamental causes of the explosion and to 
decide whether to resume operations at VOP. The story appears 
to have legs, however, and Kasicky's quick offer to resign, 
and the President and PM's quick and forceful dismissal of 
that offer, will look all the worse if the public perceives 
that the Minister was aware of improper storage conditions at 
VOP. It will look even worse if the cancellation of a project 
strongly advocated for by General Officers in the first 
months after this government came to power, was a proximate 
cause of the accident. Former PM Dzurinda has handled this 
very skillfully, noting that instead of offering to resign in 
the middle of this, Kasicky should have been getting to the 
facts and stressing the focus should be on the victims.  We 
can anticipate that after the funerals, Dzurinda will zero in 
on the new revelations, putting a lot of pressure on Fico to 
dump Kasicky.  Since coalition partner Jan Slota (SNS) is 
already after Kasicky, this could be too much for Fico to 
continue his defense of Kasicky. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Comment continued:  The incident may also affect 
the ongoing domestic debate on changes to the Labor Code. 
Fico earlier cited a mining accident, coincidentally in the 
same town of Novaky, as a prime justification for the new 
code's enhanced powers for workers to close down factories 
for safety conditions. End comment. 
VALLEE