Slovak news compiled from wire services, U.S. press, RFE/RL, and other sources University of Pittsburgh, PA 15260 Slovak Studies Program, 1417 CL MARTIN VOTRUBA S L O V A K N E W S Monday Sunday, 10-16 January 1994 Saturday, 15 January 1994 2 Vote Against Slovak National Party Chairman 2 Friday, 14 January 1994 2 Slovak, Czech Interior Ministers Discuss Border Shifts 2 Prime Minister Mečiar Criticizes President Kováč 2 President Kováč Meets with Ethnic Hungarian Politicians 3 Thursday, 13 January 1994 3 Slovak National Property Fund Officials Resign 3 Squabbling in Slovak National Party 3 Wednesday, 12 January 1994 4 Visegrád Optimistic about Partnership for Peace 4 President Kováč Meets with President Clinton 5 Hugarian Defense Minister Sees No Bilateral Treaty with Slovakia 5 President Clinton Meets Visegrád Leaders 6 Visegrád Leaders Hold Bilateral Talks 6 White House Plans for Assistance to Central Europe 7 President Clinton Unveils Plans for U.S. Assistance to Central Europe 8 Tuesday, 11 January 1994 8 Slovak Delegation Leaves for Prague 8 Slovak Organizations in Hungary Ask for New Publication 9 Monday, 10 January 1994 9 Madeleine Albright on Slovak Support for NATO Partnership 9 British Prime Minister Major Speaks about NATO, Drops Slovakia 9 Slovak Parties on Hungarian Minority Meeting 10 UPI Profiles of Slovak Leaders: President Michal Kováč 10 UPI Profiles of Slovak Leaders: Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar 11
10-16 January 1994, Slovak News 2 Saturday, 15 January 1994 VOTE AGAINST SLOVAK NATIONAL PARTY CHAIRMAN Bratislava In a closed session of the Slovak National Party executive council on 15 January, the party discussed internal conflicts as well as the coalition agreement with the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia, TASR reports. Chairman Ľudovít Černák lost a no-confidence vote. The council demanded that Černák give up his post, but Černák said that only the party congress can remove him. Friday, 14 January 1994 SLOVAK, CZECH INTERIOR MINISTERS DISCUSS BORDER SHIFTS Piešťany, West Slovakia The Czech and Slovak Interior Ministers, Jan Ruml and Jozef Tuchyňa, met to discuss several border issues between the two republics, ČTK reported on 14 January. They agreed that the Slovak village Sidonia 1 will become part of the Czech Republic and the Czech border town U Sabotů 2 will be ceded to Slovakia since residents in both settlements have held referendums expressing their wish to join the respective other country. The ministers also agreed to compensate Slovakia for several acres of previously Slovak territory that will become part of the Czech Republic when the course of the Morava river is straightened. A fourth disputed area, the Kasárne recreation ground, 3 is still to be discussed. The agreement of the ministers is not binding as the governments and parliaments of the two states have to ratify them. PRIME MINISTER MEČIAR CRITICIZES PRESIDENT KOVÁČ Bratislava In an interview with Slovak Radio on 14 January, Premier Vladimír Mečiar criticized President Michal Kováč for calling for replacing the cabinet before the recent NATO summit, where membership of Central and East European nations in the organization was discussed. Mečiar said Kováč s statement in his New Year s address, recommending that the current cabinet be replaced by a broad coalition of experts, sent a negative signal to the world. 1 Since 25 July 1997 Sidonie, Czech R.: http://g.co/maps/x227r 2 Since 25 July 1997 Šance, Vrbovce, Slovakia: http://g.co/maps/b9b7c 3 No subsequent border adjustment Kasárne, Makov, Slovakia: http://g.co/maps/dtjz4
10-16 January 1994, Slovak News 3 PRESIDENT KOVÁČ MEETS WITH ETHNIC HUNGARIAN POLITICIANS Bratislava On 14 January Slovak President Michal Kováč met with organizers of the 8 January gathering which took place in the southern Slovakia town of Komárno, TASR reports. The delegation included Coexistence 4 Chairman Miklós Duray and Hungarian Christian Democratic Movement 5 Chairman Vojtech Bugár, as well as Komárno Mayor István Pásztor. Presidential spokesman Anton Bodiš said Kováč will take a stand on the Komárno initiative after a thorough examination of the official documents adopted at the assembly. Kováč said he appreciated the peaceful atmosphere of the Komárno gathering, as well as the participants pledge of loyalty to Slovakia. Duray said the discussion with the president was very satisfying and hopes to speak with parliament chairman Ivan Gašparovič as well. Thursday, 13 January 1994 SLOVAK NATIONAL PROPERTY FUND OFFICIALS RESIGN Bratislava On 13 January seven officials of the National Property Fund (FNM, Fond národného majetku) resigned from their posts, including FNM presidium Vice President Ladislav Melčický, as well as the chairman and five members of the FNM Executive Committee. Premier Vladimír Mečiar, who has been serving as president of the FNM presidium, said the officials complained of centralized executive power, which has led to a slower transfer of property rights. Mečiar said stronger authority of the presidium was necessary; the FNM has held irregular board meetings in major joint-stock companies because the Executive Committee did not ensure the transfer of property rights in accordance with the FNM presidium s requirements. Mečiar said the resignations also relate to problems with the Slovak Insurance Company (SP, Slovenská poisťovňa), which according to him has taken several steps without informing the FNM presidium. SP Chairman Vladimír Horváth rejected suspicions that the SP has violated the law. Ján Kato, current deputy chairman of the FNM Executive Committee, was appointed its new chairman; other committee members will be elected on 17 January. SQUABBLING IN SLOVAK NATIONAL PARTY Bratislava A 10 January statement of West Slovak representatives of the Slovak National Party (SNS, Slovenská národná strana) in which they accuse SNS Chairman Ľudovít Černák of secretly negotiating with ethnic Hungarian parliamentary leaders about the removal of Premier Vladimír Mečiar, has brought further strain in the party. The SNP, which is the coalition partner of the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS, 4 Minority Hungarian ethnic party. 5 Minority Hungarian ethnic party.
10-16 January 1994, Slovak News 4 Hnutie za demokratické Slovensko), announced a split on 22 December, and recent squabbling threatens the government s parliamentary majority, which is now only 79 of 150 seats. On 11 January Černák accused SNS Honorary Chairman Jozef Prokeš, an alleged author of the statement, of working against the SNP s executive leadership. Expressing frustration with HZDS policies, Černák said the creation of his SNS faction shows that not all deputies of the SNS are in the group which defends only the interests of the HZDS, TASR reports. In a 13 January meeting of the SNS parliamentary deputies with representatives in the former Czechoslovak Federal Assembly, the former federal parliamentarians expressed their distrust in the current SNS leadership. Wednesday, 12 January 1994 VISEGRÁD OPTIMISTIC ABOUT PARTNERSHIP FOR PEACE Prague Leaders of the Visegrád countries emerged more optimistic Wednesday about the potential for closer cooperation, despite some differences over the extent of acceptance of the Partnership for Peace program. Delegations from Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and the host Czech Republic all affirmed there had been discussions on concrete issues at the separate meetings of prime and foreign ministers. The obvious display of goodwill and optimism replaced much of the earlier atmosphere of charge and countercharge over whether the four states should have formed a common front and demanded stronger guarantees in the U.S. program. Even Polish President Lech Wałęsa, who led that charge, conceded by day s end: Today s talks would bring closer the horizon on our way to NATO. Czech President Václav Havel also said the plan allows for individual approaches to the states of Central Europe, rather than the Soviet bloc approach. I feel that the differences are not as great as they seem, Havel said. Individual countries realize the time is over when it was important to show that there is a unity that can never be broken. Delegations from Slovakia and Hungary even brought up, in a non-confrontational way, their differences over the treatment of some 500,000 ethnic Hungarians in Slovakia, their ministers said. The ministers agreed that the initiative expanded significantly the potential areas of cooperation under Visegrád named after a Hungarian town where the four states leaders first met to work out cooperative agreements in 1990. Among other topics covered were
10-16 January 1994, Slovak News 5 certain areas of economic cooperation, relations with Ukraine, and support for independent states like those in the Confederation of Independent States. Only days ago, Visegrád seemed politically dead because of squabbling over the Partnership initiative. Wałęsa in particular made some disparaging comments about the Czech Republic s insistence on a bilateral approach, and made sure his own objections were aired in his meeting with President Bill Clinton. Slovakia s concerns about being left behind in the integration process were outlined by Prime Minister Michal Kováč. The different economic levels between countries should not be a reason for whether or not a country is included in the Partnership for Peace, he said. Slovak Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar said his delegation brought up the fact that of late, Slovakia seems to be dropped from discussions about integration of the Visegrád members. It s true some countries are leaving us out, but in the end we may be clever and get there first, he said. (UPI) PRESIDENT KOVÁČ MEETS WITH PRESIDENT CLINTON Prague On 12 January Slovak President Michal Kováč met in Prague with U.S. President Bill Clinton to discuss the Partnership for Peace initiative, TASR reports. In a press conference Kováč said the initiative opens the doors to all the former socialist countries equally, and it is their business as to how they will use this opportunity. Foreign Minister Jozef Moravčík said Slovakia is ready to sign the document immediately. HUGARIAN DEFENSE MINISTER SEES NO BILATERAL TREATY WITH SLOVAKIA Prague At a press conference in Prague, Jan. 12, Hungarian Defense Minister Géza Jeszenszky said that it would be a mistake and hypocritical to sign a treaty when there are so many unresolved problems. The major problems are the question of the treatment of the Hungarian minority in Slovakia and the dispute over the Gabčíkovo-Nagymaros hydroelectric project. As Jeszenszky put it: when agreement is not possible even on more border crossings we cannot have agreement on bigger issues. At a separate meeting with journalists in Prague, Slovak Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar said that the minority question should be solved within an evolving set of European norms, and criticized Hungary for giving prominence to the minority question, saying that Hungary s attitude helped neither Slovakia, Hungary nor the unity of the Visegrád countries.
10-16 January 1994, Slovak News 6 PRESIDENT CLINTON MEETS VISEGRÁD LEADERS Prague On 12 January, U.S. President Bill Clinton held a series of bilateral meetings in Prague with the heads of state of Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia, and met with the leaders of all Visegrád countries, including the Czech Republic, for lunch. There they discussed NATO s Partnership for Peace plan and American assistance to Eastern Europe. International media report that Clinton said that the plan is a way to integrate East European countries into Western structures and prepare them for eventual NATO membership. Clinton also gave assurances to Central European leaders that their security is important to the US. The NATO initiative was welcomed by all Visegrád leaders. However, ČTK reports that Polish President Lech Wałęsa said during the lunch with Clinton that while the plan is a step in the right direction, it is too short a step. He argued that the idea of a common European house remains an unfulfilled dream and that the idea of a divided Europe is being born again. Slovak President Michal Kováč welcomed the NATO initiative in his speech but warned against competition among the Visegrád countries for security guarantees. Czech President Václav Havel said in his speech that the Czech Republic is ready to start talks about participating in the Partnership for Peace initiative. In response to warnings by Russian politicians not to expand NATO eastward, Havel said that we are an independent country which itself decides about its political orientation and affiliations, Austrian Television noted. VISEGRÁD LEADERS HOLD BILATERAL TALKS Prague A number of bilateral meetings between the leaders of the Visegrád countries took place on 12 January during and after the summit with President Clinton. Speaking to journalists after his meeting with Czech Premier Václav Klaus, Slovak Premier Vladimír Mečiar said that the Partnership for Peace initiative represents the same opportunity for all Eastern European countries. In a reference to Polish President Lech Wałęsa s criticism of the Czech Republic over its reluctance to coordinate its efforts to join NATO with the other Visegrád countries, Mečiar said that all steps that the Czech Republic has made have been made to protect the Czech Republic s political and security interests and are fully legitimate. Mečiar argued that the criticism was one-sided, simplistic, and that Slovakia does not identify with it. Klaus argued that differences between Poland and the Czech Republic over the Visegrád cooperation are not as great as some formulations by Polish leaders indicate. Klaus said that the Czech Republic is currently looking for a common denominator of Visegrád cooperation.
10-16 January 1994, Slovak News 7 A spokesman for Havel told the media after Havel s meeting with Wałęsa that both sides reacted positively to the Partnership for Peace initiative and that Wałęsa did not raise any objections against the Czech Republic s individual approach to NATO and the Partnership for Peace initiative. WHITE HOUSE PLANS FOR ASSISTANCE TO CENTRAL EUROPE Prague U.S. President Bill Clinton Wednesday outlined economic initiatives, including cash, to help Central European states that sign on as members of the Western alliance Partnership for Peace. Along with the promise of military cooperation held out in the plan adopted by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization this week, the president said the United States will reorient some bilateral military programs and policies. To this end, Clinton signed on 6 January presidential determinations ending Cold War restrictions on the sale or transfer of defense articles to Slovakia and the Czech Republic, making all Visegrád states eligible for the U.S. foreign military sales program. During meetings with presidents of the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia, Clinton promised technical assistance and cooperation with international financial institutions to find ways to help the new democracies cope with the social and human dimension of their economic reforms. Washington also said it would back efforts by the Visegrád countries to join the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development. Hungary, for example, applied last month. Although some of the initiatives are actually continuations or expansions of existing U.S. programs for Central Europe, Clinton did announce a new Democracy Network a $30 million, three-to-five year program to enlist selected U.S. non-government organizations to cooperate with and support similar groups in the Visegrád countries involved in public policy. The Democracy Network will assist local groups in areas such as social reform, the law and education to deepen democracy s roots. Clinton had hoped Visegrád summit would result in more regional cooperation. To support this, Washington would offer technical assistance to improve and upgrade regional transportation and communications infrastructure, and help establish a regional air traffic control and airspace system. It would also be prepared to give priority consideration to projects that involve more than one nation, and would offer technical assistance to regional groups to help design such projects. Poland especially has been an advocate of regional and area initiatives with its neighbors, particularly in the environmental area.
10-16 January 1994, Slovak News 8 The United States has helped Central and Eastern Europe for several years through a program, approved in 1989, to help develop free market economies and provide technical assistance. Administration officials said the program has already provided $1.8 billion in cash to pay for technical programs. When food assistance and other U.S. contributions are considered, aid to the region exceeds $8 billion. (UPI) PRESIDENT CLINTON UNVEILS PLANS FOR U.S. ASSISTANCE TO CENTRAL EUROPE Prague Speaking to journalists in Prague after his meeting with the heads of the Visegrád countries, President Bill Clinton said that, besides the Partnership for Peace plan, the U.S. will offer other forms of assistance to Central European democracies. The White House spokesman specified that the initiatives will include a significant expansion of programs of the Overseas Private Investment Company in Eastern Europe; sponsoring a conference on investment and trade in Central and Eastern Europe; supporting the Visegrád countries in their efforts to join the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD); the founding of the so-called Democratic Network, which is to support the development of civil society in Central and Eastern Europe; providing technical assistance for international projects aimed at improving regional transport and communications infrastructure; and supporting projects in which more than one East European country will take part. The spokesman said that some $400 million will be made available by the U.S. to support market-oriented and democratic reforms in Eastern Europe. Tuesday, 11 January 1994 SLOVAK DELEGATION LEAVES FOR PRAGUE Bratislava On 11 January the Slovak delegation headed by President Michal Kováč left for Prague to meet with President Bill Clinton and the heads of the other Visegrád countries, TASR reports. Other delegation members include Premier Vladimír Mečiar, Foreign Minister Jozef Moravčík, Deputy Premiers Jozef Prokeš, Sergej Kozlík and Julius Tóth, Economy Minister Ján Ducký, Health Minister Irena Belohorská and Defense Minister Imrich Andrejčák, as well as ambassador to the Czech Republic Ivan Mjartan and designated ambassador to the U.S. Branislav Lichardus. In an 11 January press conference, Moravčík announced that the cabinet unambiguously supports the Partnership for Peace initiative.
10-16 January 1994, Slovak News 9 SLOVAK ORGANIZATIONS IN HUNGARY ASK FOR NEW PUBLICATION Budapest In an open letter to the Hungarian parliament s human rights committee and to the government s National and Ethnic Minority Office, four organizations representing the interests Hungary s Slovak minority asked for funding to publish their own journal, MTI reported on 11 January. The organizations, the Free Organization of Slovaks, the Slovak Youth Organization in Hungary, the Slovak Folklore Association, and the Federation of Slovak Writers and Artists in Hungary complained that their views were excluded from the Slovak-language weekly published by the League of Slovaks in Hungary (ZSM, Zväz Slovákov v Maďarsku Magyarországi Szlovákok Szövetsége). The organizations protested that only the ZSM s journal receives state funds, and urged that negotiations begin about establishing a second Slovak-language weekly. Monday, 10 January 1994 MADELEINE ALBRIGHT ON SLOVAK SUPPORT FOR NATO PARTNERSHIP Prague On 10 January, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Madeleine Albright, and General John Shalikashvili, Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, met with top Czech officials, including Prime Minister Václav Klaus, Foreign Affairs Minister Josef Zieleniec, and Defense Minister Antonín Baudyš. Speaking to reporters after the meeting with Klaus, Shalikashvili said that any threat to East European countries subscribing to the NATO s Partnership for Peace plan would be considered a threat to the United States. He explained that while the Partnership for Peace does not extend specific security guarantees, it does in fact provide for a consultative process if a partnermember feels its security threatened. Albright told reporters that Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic enthusiastically support the Partnership for Peace plan and that she expected Poland also to endorse the plan. Albright said that the U.S. would welcome a common statement from the Visegrád countries on the results of the NATO summit in Brussels on 10 January, which endorsed the Partnership for Peace plan. BRITISH PRIME MINISTER MAJOR SPEAKS ABOUT NATO, DROPS SLOVAKIA Brussels British Prime Minister John Major said Monday that Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic all have a strong claim for eventual NATO membership under the alliance s new Partnership for Peace. The accord adopted by NATO s 16 member nations at their two-day summit in Brussels does not mention any potential new member by name.
10-16 January 1994, Slovak News 10 Major said in remarks to reporters the alliance cannot yet define who will be able to meet the obligations of membership, or when. Those who wish to join have much work to do, with our assistance. However, Major added, The Poles, Czechs, and Hungarians are European peoples with fast-developing democracies and a strong claim to membership. Major left out Slovakia, where efforts to adopt a market-driven economy is proceeding more slowly. (UPI) SLOVAK PARTIES ON HUNGARIAN MINORITY MEETING Bratislava On 10 January several Slovak political parties commented on the 8 January gathering of ethnic Hungarians in Komárno. The Christian Democratic Movement (KDH, Kresťanskodemokratické hnutie) said the ethnic principle is not a decisive criterion for determining a country s territorial and administrative arrangement and proposed restoring the historical regional arrangements, which take into consideration not only ethnic, but also geographic, economic, and cultural criteria. West Slovak representatives of the Slovak National Party (SNS, Slovenská národná strana) issued a statement calling the Komárno meeting open aggression of the Greater- Hungary chauvinists who have the goal of rejoining southern Slovakia to Hungary. The group accused SNS Chairman Ľudovít Černák of secretly negotiating with ethnic Hungarian parliamentary leaders about plans to remove Premier Vladimír Mečiar at the time when Slovak territorial integrity and independence are threatened. Černák denied the allegations, TASR reports. UPI PROFILES OF SLOVAK LEADERS: PRESIDENT MICHAL KOVÁČ President Michal Kováč (KOH -vatsh), 57, a career banker, graduated from Bratislava s Economic University in 1954 and worked for the Czechoslovak State Bank, which led him to positions in Cuba and London. Kováč was one of many communists stripped of their membership and banished to lesser jobs during the ``normalization period that followed the 1968 Warsaw Pact invasion. Although not a dissident, he joined the Public Against Violence that came to power soon after the 1989 Velvet Revolution, and was appointed Slovakia s finance minister. He became disgruntled with the party after it led the government s move to expel then- Premier Vladimír Mečiar, resigned his post and joined the fledgling Movement for Democratic Slovakia (HZDS). He built a strong bond with Mečiar that lasted until Kováč was elected the first Slovak president Feb. 15, 1993. Gradually, however, the two men have parted company and in December, Kováč declared the country should have a premier backed by at least a two-thirds majority in Parliament.
10-16 January 1994, Slovak News 11 Kováč wants Slovakia admitted to NATO simultaneously with the other Visegrád states and calls full membership the only lasting solution, but meantime endorses the Partnership for Peace. (UPI) UPI PROFILES OF SLOVAK LEADERS: PRIME MINISTER VLADIMÍR MEČIAR Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar (MEH-tshyar) still towers over Slovak politics, but his popularity has plummeted since he masterminded the independence of his country on 1 January 1993. The rough-hewn, 51-year-old former boxer leads the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS, Hnutie za demokratické Slovensko), and has confounded critics who predicted he could never turn independent Slovakia into a functioning state. The workaholic premier is facing continuing economic difficulties and a shortage of experienced people to run a government, as well as a decline in public confidence. Polls show his 34 percent rating in June 1992 had slumped to 19% in November 1993. His image abroad was also tarnished last fall when he described the country s estimated 500,000 Roma, or Gypsies, as asocial, mentally retarded and not adaptable and suggested population control. Mečiar governed without a parliamentary majority for much of 1993 and was unable to push through badly needed economic reforms. However, the smaller Slovak National Party eventually joined in an uneasy coalition with HZDS, which now enjoys a slim parliamentary majority. Mečiar is often at loggerheads with President Michal Kováč, who has attempted to steer a middle course between Slovakia s six political parties and is the only politician prepared to challenge the abrasive premier. (UPI)