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DE RUEHSL #0146/01 0711728
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O 121728Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY BRATISLAVA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0763
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHBW/AMEMBASSY BELGRADE IMMEDIATE 0075
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHPS/USOFFICE PRISTINA IMMEDIATE 0045
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK IMMEDIATE 0094

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BRATISLAVA 000146 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/17/2012 
TAGS: PREL PGOV YI KO LO
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON SLOVAKIA'S KOSOVO DEBATE 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Vallee for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1. (C) Summary and action recommendation: In separate 
conversations, President Gasparovic, the International 
Secretary of PM Fico's Smer party, and a Christian Democrat 
 
SIPDIS 
MP told us that Slovakia will not be outside the European 
mainstream on Kosovo.  Nonetheless, in a March 12 press 
appearance with visiting Serbian DefMin Stankovic, a 
seemingly off-the-reservation DefMin Kasicky stated that 
Slovakia opposed the right of a national minority to create a 
state in Kosovo.  MFA PolDir Lajcak (reached in Serbia) was 
surprised by the comment and said that FM Kubis was giving a 
completely different message during his March 12 meetings in 
Belgrade.  Despite plans for German Chancellor Merkel and 
British PM Blair to approach Fico on the sidelines of the 
European Council meeting, FM Kubis told the Ambassador no 
such discussions took place.  Comment and recommendation: Our 
European partners must be persuaded to help carry the water 
on Kosovo with the Slovaks; we should not be the only ones 
with this message, especially in light of Fico's upcoming 
visit to Moscow.  End summary. 
 
President: Slovakia Will be in European Mainstream 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
¶2. (C) President Ivan Gasparovic March 12 made it clear to 
the Ambassador that he does not want to see Slovakia outside 
the mainstream on the Kosovo issue and said Slovakia would be 
with the consensus European position.  Gasparovic took credit 
for delaying a parliamentary vote on Kosovo through his party 
consultations, and for watering down the Slovak National 
Party (SNS) resolution before it was introduced.  He stressed 
that the security of Europe was a more important issue than 
the political posturing currently going on in Slovakia and 
said he would continue to work with all parties to arrive at 
a consensus. Gasparovic does not believe there is a majority 
in parliament that would vote to bind FM Kubis, hands. 
 
¶3. (C) Asked whether a mainstream position means Slovakia 
will not abstain on the ultimate UNSC resolution, the 
President said Slovakia would abstain only if it did not harm 
the chances of the resolution passing. Gasparovic asked how 
hard the Russians were working the Africans on the UNSC.  The 
Ambassador responded that EU unity and a yes vote by Slovakia 
are vitally important in influencing the Russians and the 
Africans.  The President repeated an earlier comment that in 
the end the US and Russia would strike some deal and nobody 
else really mattered.  We will continue to reinforce the 
message that Slovakia needs to vote in favor of a resolution. 
 
 
KDH: We Won't be Anti-American or Anti-EU on Kosovo 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
¶4. (C) MP Vladimir Palko, who is currently running for the 
leadership of the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) against 
incumbent chairman Pavol Hrusovsky, told the Ambassador March 
12 that his biggest objection to Ahtisaari,s plan is that it 
would create a Muslim state in Europe. Palko said it would be 
hard to backtrack on many years of a KDH position calling for 
no change in Serbia,s borders but that "KDH would do nothing 
to be anti-American or anti-EU on the matter." 
 
Smer: We Won't Let "Slavic Pride" Ruin Our Reputation 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
¶5. (C) Poloff accompanied seven Slovak MPs for a two-day tour 
of USEU, SHAPE and NATO on March 8-9, where Kosovo was the 
dominant topic of conversation. After several meetings in 
which representatives of SNS and the opposition Slovak 
Democratic and Christian Union (SDKU) vied to be the most 
hostile to Kosovo independence, the MPs met with U.S. PermRep 
Nuland. Ambassador Nuland impressed the delegates with 
arguments about the "least-bad" option, the need for European 
and trans-Atlantic unity and the comparison of crimes 
committed by the KLA to those committed by Serbia under 
Milosovic's presidency. Afterwards, Smer MP and International 
Secretary Juraj Horvath told poloff privately, "It is clear 
 
SIPDIS 
what the decision will be, and Smer will not let our partners 
(read: SNS) ruin Slovakia's reputation for the sake of Slavic 
pride."  Poloff asked if Smer was not concerned that SDKU 
would continue trying to score political points with the 
Kosovo issue. Horvath responded that Smer's government is 
young and they can withstand the pressure. "We know what our 
voters really care about (and don't care about)." 
 
Major Deviation by DefMin Kasicky 
------------------------------- 
¶6. (C) Despite these positive signals, Defense Minister 
 
BRATISLAVA 00000146  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
Frantisek Kasicky, at a joint press conference with visiting 
Serbian Minister of Defense Zoran Stankovic March 12, stated, 
"It is not possible to support a development resulting in a 
national minority, which has its own mother state, having the 
right to create another state."  PolDir Miroslav Lajcak, who 
is in Belgrade with FM Jan Kubis, told PolEc Chief he had not 
seen the reports of Kasicky's comments (nor had others in the 
MFA when we forwarded the wire service story), but that Kubis 
in Belgrade was delivering a completely different message.  A 
frustrated Lajcak sighed, "You can take this as an example of 
the coordination that exists in this government."  Kubis was 
heading into his final meeting with President Tadic when we 
spoke with Lajcak.  We will report his reaction septel. 
Kubis will also meet with Stankovic on March 13, when MFA 
contacts tell us the media outcome will be better.  (Comment: 
We see Kasicky's remarks as off the reservation, rather than 
some political tactic to please all sides.) 
 
Euros Drop the Ball 
------------------- 
¶7. (C) We had been told by German and UK diplomats in 
Bratislava that both Chancellor Merkel and PM Blair might 
have "pull-asides" or "brush-bys" with PM Fico during the 
March 8-9 European Council meeting.  FM Kubis told the 
Ambassador that no such bilateral discussion took place. 
Lajcak (protect) bemoaned to DCM this lost opportunity to 
influence his government.  He recommended the upcoming 
GYMNICH meeting in Berlin as an opportunity for the UK and 
Germany to make the case to Fico.  Comment and action 
recommendation: Intense U.S. diplomatic efforts to convince 
Slovakia to adhere to "European unity" on Kosovo have started 
to turn political opinion, but it is clear from remarks like 
Kasicky's that the battle is not yet won.  It is necessary to 
keep pressure on our European partners to carry water on the 
issue as well.  It is especially crucial to shore up Fico 
before his April 3-4 official visit to Moscow.  We recommend 
that Washington take another run at our European partners. 
End comment. 
 
At Least Some in the Media Get It 
--------------------------------- 
¶8. (U) In a commentary for the daily Sme, columnist Marian 
Lesko made our case well: "Talks between Serbs and Kosovar 
Albanians have reached a dead end, as neither group is 
willing to alter its original position. This means that the 
topic of Kosovo will return to Slovak politics a month after 
it left it. Let us hope in a different form. 
 
"The competition between Slovak political parties to see who 
could be more loudly against the proposal to give Kosovo 
limited autonomy without Serbian agreement had a hysterical 
undertone. Slovak politicians were unable to judge the matter 
on its merits, but only according to their own interests. 
They treated the Kosovo question as though they were deciding 
on autonomy for ethnic Hungarians in southern Slovakia. They 
were too arrogant and selfish to understand that it wasn't 
about them, but about whether people will continue to die in 
the Balkans. 
 
"Most EU and NATO states understand that there is no good 
solution for Kosovo, only bad and worse, and that leaving 
Kosovo's status up in the air until an uncontrollable 
'solution' comes along is worse that giving it autonomy now 
despite opposition from Serbia. The Ahtisaari plan goes to 
the UN Security Council before the end of March, with a vote 
to be held in June. Slovak politicians have until then to see 
if they can stop thinking about Kosovo 'in Slovak'." 
VALLEE