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O 260730Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY BRATISLAVA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1541
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BRATISLAVA 000083 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/NCE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/22/2018 
TAGS: PREL PGOV YU KO LO
SUBJECT: GOS KOSOVO RHETORIC: MORE SOUND THAN FURY 
 
REF: A) BRATISLAVA 1 B) BRATISLAVA 60 C) STATE 18130 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Vincent Obsitnik, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
. 
 
¶1. (C) Summary and comment.  Although the general reaction 
among most Slovak politicians, media and the public to 
Kosovo's declaration of independence has been relatively 
restrained, top officials from governing coalition parties, 
including the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister Caplovic, 
and Jan Slota have made publicly critical comments. Slota, 
the boorish leader of the Slovak National Party (SNS) claimed 
that the U.S. seeks to destabilize the EU through its Kosovo 
policy and that recognition could lead to a "third World 
War." Ambassador Obsitnik and A/DCM reached out on February 
22 to officials in the offices of the PM and the President, 
and to a leading SMER MP, to express concern about Slota's 
statements and to urge that PM Fico distance himself from 
such inflammatory rhetoric.  (Note: Post's efforts to contact 
the SNS spokesman were unsuccessful.) 
 
¶2. (C) Summary Cont. In a February 24 appearance on Slovak 
television, PM Fico condemned the attacks in Belgrade against 
the U.S. and other embassies, but, asked to comment on 
Slota's provocative statements, said only that he would have 
chosen different words. The Prime Minister stated that 
Kosovo's declaration of independence violated international 
law and set a dangerous precedent, adding that Slovakia 
"might never" recognize Kosovo. While we do not believe that 
Fico's troubling and, at times, provocative rhetoric signals 
a material shift in the GOS position, it could complicate an 
eventual course correction.  Ambassador Obsitnik will meet 
with FM Kubis on February 26 to seek clarification, as well 
as to underscore U.S. disappointment regarding PM Fico's own 
comments and his failure to repudiate Slota.  We also are 
seeking to reschedule the Ambassador's one-on-one meeting 
with the Prime Minister (canceled due to the PM's recent 
illness) as soon as possible.   End summary and comment. 
 
 
After MFA's Relative Nuance, a Predictably Negative Chorus 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) On February 17 the MFA issued a statement noting 
that "for the time being" Slovakia will not recognize Kosovo 
"on the basis of this declaration..." but will "closely 
follow the development of the situation in Kosovo and the 
region, as well as the steps of the international community. 
Only after evaluating the situation will Slovakia decide on 
further steps." In a subsequent press conference, Foreign 
Minister Kubis studiously avoided going beyond the parameters 
of the statement when reporters pressed for clarification 
regarding if, when, or on what basis Slovakia might decide to 
recognize Kosovo. In a joint press conference on February 20 
with visiting Russian Deputy Prime Minister Naryskin, PM Fico 
took a less nuanced stance, calling Kosovo's unilateral 
declaration of independence a mistake. Fico said that 
Slovakia would not recognize Kosovo until there is a change 
in its status that accords with international law. Fico said 
the UN Security Council should adopt a solution and the EU 
should continue to work towards a common position. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Also on February 20, Deputy PM Dusan Caplovic stated 
that he "would never vote for Kosovo's independence," adding 
that "we know very well from whence drugs, white meat 
(trafficked persons) and weapons flow into Europe." On 
February 21, SNS leader Jan Slota said "the Kosovo problem is 
really a precedence of the sort that could lead to a third 
World War... We're not talking about democracy, we're not 
talking about law...This is simply the Munich Dictate, which 
can now be called the Washington Dictate." Slota added that 
the U.S. also supports Kosovo's independence because it has a 
secret prison there, similar to Guantanamo, and to further 
 
SIPDIS 
its missile defense plans. 
 
¶5. (C) Ambassador Obsitnik, who was on travel in eastern 
Slovakia, and A/DCM contacted government officials and 
politicians on February 22 to express extreme disappointment 
with Jan Slota's statements and to urge that the Prime 
Minister disassociate himself from such rhetoric.  Smer MP 
and head of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Boris Zala, 
inititally sought to minimize the import of Slota's comments, 
but appeared to accept the Ambassador's argument that 
statements by Slota reflect badly on the government.  He 
 
BRATISLAVA 00000083  002 OF 002 
 
 
expressed a willingness to speak to the Prime Minister about 
this issue.  President Gasparovic's diplomatic advisor, Jan 
Foltin, told A/DCM that Gasparovic had canceled plans for a 
joint television appearance with the Prime Minister to 
discuss Kosovo, in order to signal his "more reserved" 
position on the issue.  A/DCM urged Foltin to convey to the 
President our concerns about the tenor of the rhetoric, 
particularly in light of the previous day's violence in 
Belgrade. 
 
 
Fico on Recognition: Maybe Never 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU)  During his February 24 appearance on news program, 
PM Fico's comments were not inconsistent with previous public 
remarks he has made on Kosovo.  During a December 4 visit to 
Brussels, for instance, Fico stated that "we want to be very 
cooperative when it comes to this issue, but I can hardly see 
us recognizing a Kosovo that had declared itself unilaterally 
independent." The interview was, however, the most 
wide-ranging Fico has given on Kosovo and the conclusions and 
connections he drew -- or declined to draw -- were troubling. 
 Fico characterized Kosovo's declaration and subsequent 
recognition by some states as a dangerous precedent in 
violation of international law. 
 
7.(SBU) The Prime Minister made an analogy between the 
actions of the Kosovar Albanians to a hypothetical call by 
Slovakia's Hungarian minority for independence and used a 
reported statement by the Chairman of the Hungarian 
Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, Zsolt Nemeth, to 
bolster his example.  Fico quoted Nemeth as saying that 
"social and territorial autonomy is the best way of solving 
ethnic issues in Central Europe. The fact that the autonomy 
of Kosovo has been supported by the international community, 
is good news for minorities in the region." When the reporter 
pushed back on the merits of a comparison between Kosovo and 
Slovakia, Fico replied that he merely wanted viewers to 
understand the situation. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Fico said that it was unfortunate that the EU was 
once again divided over a question of international law, as 
had been the case with respect to the Iraq war.  Asked to 
respond to Russian Ambassador Rogozin's comments about use of 
force in Kosovo, Fico said that he did not believe such a 
thing would happen in Europe, adding: "I am not here to 
evaluate either the U.S. or the Russians, but I want to say 
that someone has created this situation...So, it should not 
have happened (Kosovo secession), and then we would not have 
here these tough statements." Fico noted that despite 
Slovakia's membership in the EU and NATO, it did not intend 
to pursue a foreign policy that was oriented only toward the 
U.S.  Asked whether his remarks were at odds with the 
February 17 MFA statement noting that Slovakia would 
re-evaluate the situation in Kosovo in 120 days, Fico said 
categorically "no," explaining that what Kubis was referring 
to "was the period in which international organizations would 
be transferring certain responsibilities to local bodies." 
 
¶9. (C) Comment and conclusion: During a February 19 courtesy 
call on Pavol Demes, Director of the German Marshall 
Foundation's local office, the Ambassador asked how the GOS 
might justify an eventual decision to recognize Kosovar 
independence.  Demes replied "Slavic meta-physics," and 
predicted that in 3-5 months the government would announce 
that it had concluded that it was in the best interests of 
the EU, Serbia, and Slovakia that Kosovo's independence be 
recognized.  This is, in effect, the scenario that FM Kubis 
has sketched to USG officials on multiple occasions, though 
he has been careful to state that he would need to convince a 
reluctant PM Fico.  Although PM Fico's rhetoric could make a 
course correction more difficult, Post still considers Slovak 
recognition to be the likely, eventual outcome as if other EU 
holdouts move in that direction and the situation on the 
ground stabilizes.  According to UK DCM, with whom A/DCM met 
on February 25, this assessment is shared also by the UK 
Embassy here. Given Fico's foreign policy orientation, 
however, it appears that key EU member states may be in the 
best position to convince Fico that it is in his interest 
that Slovakia recognize Kosovo. End Comment. 
 
OBSITNIK