VZCZCXRO3215
RR RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHSL #0001/01 0021233
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 021233Z JAN 08
FM AMEMBASSY BRATISLAVA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1421
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHPS/USOFFICE PRISTINA 0091

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BRATISLAVA 000001 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/02/2013 
TAGS: PREL PGOV KVIR EU LO
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S COURTESY CALL WITH FOREIGN MINISTER 
KUBIS 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Vincent Obsitnik for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
 ¶1. (C) Summary. In their courtesy call meeting on December 
28, Ambassador Obsitnik and Foreign Minister Jan Kubis 
discussed a range of foreign policy issues, with an emphasis 
on the Western Balkans.  Kubis was in typical form, cordial 
and guarded, but gave additional insight on several topics, 
such as Slovakia's gameplan for recognizing Kosovo and his 
views on Slovak-Hungarian relations. The Foreign Minister 
requested assistance from the Ambassador to help set up 
visits to Washington for President Ivan Gasparovic and for 
himself.  He also asked for American support to help weigh in 
with the Kosovars to maintain the Slovak diplomatic office in 
Pristina.  End Summary. 
 
Kosovo 
------ 
 
¶2. (C) Kosovo led off the discussion.  Kubis emphasized that 
Slovakia "will be with the EU majority on all practical 
matters" concerning Kosovo, and claimed to be the first one 
to raise the idea of establishing a ESDP force in Kosovo, 
clarifying that it is a EU priority to help establish a 
durable solution for Kosovo.  Slovakia's decision on whether 
and when to officially recognize the independence of Kosovo 
would be a complicated balancing act, he added, but Slovakia 
would eventually follow the majority of the EU.  Kubis 
offered that recognition of Kosovo by EU member states would 
take pace in waves: by his count, "about 17" states would 
recognize Kosovo immediately after it declares independence, 
a handful more would recognize a month or so later, followed 
by a another handful after about six months.  Kubis reckoned 
that Slovakia would end up in the third and last group along 
with Spain, Romania, and Greece, and suggested that the 
decision regarding when to recognize would be coordinated 
closely with the latter two.  When pushed, Kubis floated June 
2008 as a possible estimate for recognition.  In any case, 
Kubis made clear that Prime Minister Fico would not allow 
Slovakia to stand with Cyprus as the last two in the EU 
refusing to recognize Kosovo, and added that he had relayed 
that message recently to his FM counterpart from Nicosia. 
The Foreign Minister also reported that he sent a strong 
message to Serbian PM Vojislav Kostunica at the UN in early 
December, telling him that Slovakia "will eventually 
recognize Kosovo" and counseling that Serbia must not cut 
electricity or water supplies to Kosovo. 
 
¶3. (C) Kubis also reiterated that Slovakia wanted to keep its 
diplomatic office in Pristina open despite what he thought 
could be unfriendly attitudes among Kosovars towards Slovakia 
for lack of early recognition.  Kubis asked the Ambassador if 
the U.S. would be willing to weigh in with the Kosovo 
government on this as appropriate.   He expressed his 
appreciation for help provided by the U.S. Office in Pristina 
in response to security threats earlier to the Slovak office 
earlier in the year and hoped the missionw would continue 
working together closely in 2008 
 
Slovak-Hungarian relations 
-------------------------- 
 
¶4. (C) Regarding Slovak-Hungarian relations, Kubis was 
hopeful about bilateral communication in the short-term, 
noting that both sides were working on setting up an official 
visit to Bratislava by Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany in 
early 2008.  He was not especially sanguine about the 
prospects for bilateral relations after Hungary's next 
national elections, however, fearing that the more explicitly 
nationalist elements from the former Orban government might 
return to power.  Kubis opined that Orban's circle had "a lot 
of crazy ideas...based on the concept of a politically united 
Hungarian nation."  The FM emphasized the need to discuss 
Slovak-Hungarian relations at length with U.S. colleagues, 
noting the letter that Prime Minister received earlier this 
year from Representative Tom Lantos about treatment of the 
Hungarian minority within Slovakia.  "I responded with all 
politeness," he noted, "I don't want to see more letters like 
that."  Kubis said he would work with Ambassador Kacer to 
press Slovakia's case further during his next trip to 
Washington. 
 
Missile Defense 
--------------- 
 
¶5. (C) Ambassador Obsitnik reminded Kubis that a US DOD 
delegation would be coming to Slovakia in early 2008 to 
provide a classified briefing on missile-based security 
threats and hoped that PM Fico could attend, since it would 
give him a broader perspective on the need for a missile 
defense system in Central Europe.  Kubis responded by saying 
that the U.S. should not just "read my (Fico's) lips but read 
 
BRATISLAVA 00000001  002 OF 002 
 
 
my acts" with regard to missile defense.  He added that Fico 
is committed to working with the NATO majority but, when 
asked by journalists, will express a European social 
democrat's skepticism of the idea of missile defense.  Kubis 
assured the Ambassador that Fico understands and supports the 
official policy that the decision ultimately belongs to the 
Czech and Polish governments.  He also said that he and the 
PM would like to see more information about the threats posed 
by Iran, since the U.S. readout will be quite different that 
the perspective that Russia has been promoting. 
 
Restrictions on Slovak NGO sector 
--------------------------------- 
¶6. (C) Kubis responded constructively to Ambassador 
Obsitnik's inquiries about a newly proposed draft law by the 
Ministry of Interior, which would force NGOs to register as 
associations that can only legally provide services to 
members, thereby potentially prohibiting the right of NGOs to 
take part in advocacy activities (such as democracy 
promotion) either at home or abroad.  The FM was not entirely 
up-to-date on the issue and seemed to view pasage of some 
sort of law as a foregone conlusion but acknowledged that the 
draft had problems.  He drew comparisons to efforts last year 
by the Ministry of Finance to reduce tax assignation funding 
to NGOs and offered that his Ministry could again reach out 
to various stakeholders and help reach some sort of mutually 
acceptable compromise.  Kubis understood that the Ministry's 
proposal put pressure on NGOs but said "I don't think there 
is an attempt to forcefully squeeze them out."  He 
specifically mentioned that he would get in touch with 
Kalinak and with leaders from the NGO sector, including 
former Ambassador to the U.S. Martin Butora in early January. 
 (Update: Kubis told the Ambassador on January 1 that he had 
spoken to Minister Robert Kalinak and that he and Kalinak 
would meet with the NGOs to discuss the draft.) 
 
Official Visits to the U.S. 
--------------------------- 
 
¶7. (C) Kubis also asked the Ambassador for help in scheduling 
a potential visit to Washington by President Ivan Gasparovic 
during 2008, including a trip to the White House.  The FM 
believes that Gasparovic plays a moderating influence within 
the government on many foreign policy issues, such as missile 
defense and Kosovo, and a visit could prove beneficial to 
both sides.  This idea was very much in its initial stages, 
and no specific month for a visit was suggested. 
 
¶8. (C) The FM was looking forward to his planned trip to 
Washington in late January/early February (exact dates not 
confirmed) and asked Ambassador Obsitnik for help in setting 
up an agenda.  Kubis wanted to make meetings with the U.S. 
Congress a point of emphasis on this trip, mentioning that he 
would like to meet with Rep. Lantos, ranking members of the 
Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and perhaps legislators 
involved with visa waiver legislation.  He also mentioned 
that he would personally invite Rep. Alcee Hastings to meet 
with him during the Congressman's upcoming February visit to 
Vienna.  Ambassador Obsitnik recommended possible visits with 
Senator Lugar, Senator Voinovich, and Representative Mica. 
OBSITNIK