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SLOVAKIA: Steering Clear of the U.S.
By Zoltán Dujisin
BUDAPEST, Mar 1, 2007 (IPS) - Robert Fico, the charismatic Prime Minister of
Slovakia, is shifting his country's foreign policy into an unusual
direction in this traditionally pro-U.S. region.
After the collapse of state socialism, most of Central-Eastern Europe has
ambitions of integration in Western institutions, and relations with the
United States are generally more prioritised than in Western Europe.
That was also the case with Slovakia until Fico's socialist Smer
(Direction) Party won parliamentary elections in 2006 amidst growing
discontent with the old right-wing government's radical free-market
policies.
The popular Prime Minister had also criticised the previous government for
being overly favourable to Washington, and recently stressed the current
cabinet "is a sovereign one and has its own opinion on foreign policy."
The premier's visits to China and Libya have, however, caused uproar in
the right-wing opposition and media who are attacking Fico for allegedly
endangering the country's international reputation.
The opposition claims Slovakia's foreign policy should be dictated by its
membership in the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty
Organisation (NATO). The government denies deviating from its
Euro-Atlantic course.
While Poland and the Czech Republic make efforts to enhance their alliance
to the United States by favouring a U.S. military base in the region, Fico
declared he would never allow such base on Slovak territory, sparking
additional criticism.
The Prime Minister will also head to Russia in April to intensify
relations with what Slovakia's foreign ministry sees as a strategic
partner of the EU.
"Fico is a controversial person, he is certainly no pro-American, but he
can be considered pro-European," Adam Libercan, an analyst at the Centre
for European Policy in Bratislava told IPS.
"The most controversial issue is that his first important visits have been
to old allies of communist times, and not say the U.S., Germany or
France," Libercan said.
But Slovakia's choice of foreign partners was narrowed by last year's
events, when the Party of European Socialists suspended Smer's membership
and condemned it to relative international isolation.
The European Socialists were angered when Fico chose to form a coalition
government with an extreme-right party.
In the West Fico only managed to be received in Portugal and Italy, but
now he is hoping the situation will change in his favour, even if "he is
governing in a coalition with the extremists."
"The xenophobic, nationalist controversies of the past seem under control
and he is not pursuing any policies that go against European socialism,"
Libercan told IPS.
In the meantime, the premier's visit to China, with which Slovakia has a
large trade imbalance, was dominated by economic pragmatism. Slovakia
promised to provide China with a sound investment environment, while
hoping China will absorb much of Slovak exports.
Fico did not raise human rights issues during his visit and, responding to
domestic criticism, argued he just wants to benefit his own people by
focusing on economic relations. Fico also reminded critics "the whole
world goes to Libya and China."
A few analysts pointed out Fico's right-wing predecessors had also
neglected human rights without suffering similar onslaughts from the
media.
Still, on his visit to Libya Fico raised the issue of the Bulgarian nurses
who have been sentenced to death for allegedly infecting 427 children with
the HIV virus in a Libyan hospital.
The Slovak premier offered free treatment for HIV infected children in
Slovakia, hoping Libya will make an accommodating gesture towards the
nurses, a long-term demand of Western countries.
The two sides also signed a deal on military cooperation, and the Slovak
side said a confidential agreement on the repayment of Libya's foreign
debt to Slovakia was reached.
But it is not just Fico's foreign trips that have angered the opposition;
criticism of the U.S. is also not welcomed by the right. The premier
recently classified the Iraq war as "incredibly unjust and wrong", and
announced Slovak troops would withdraw from Iraq in fulfilment of an old
electoral promise.
Former defence minister Juraj Liska argued the premier was "casting doubt
on the endeavour of 34 countries to topple the totalitarian regime,"
adding that Fico is personally "close to totalitarian regimes," in
reference to his trips to Libya and China.
Countering those who criticise him for forgetting Slovakia's international
obligations, Fico agreed to send troops to Southern Afghanistan within the
framework of NATO's mission.
Ironically, it was through one of the few political issues on which there
is unanimity that Slovakia got Europe's attention. During a meeting of EU
foreign ministers, Slovak foreign minister Jan Kubis pushed through a
modified statement on the Kosovo plan drafted by United Nations envoy
Martti Ahtisaari.
The EU's initial wording "welcomed" the plan, which observers say
practically grants Kosovo independence from Serbia, but Kubis managed to
have the word removed, making the EU's stance more ambiguous.
Kosovo, the disputed southern region of Serbia where a two-million strong
Albanian population is pushing for independence, has become an important
domestic issue after the foreign minister came under attack for saying its
independence from Serbia was realistically inevitable. Kubis retracted
after the government and most opposition parties stated the region's
independence should be conditional to Serbia's consent.
Slovak politicians fear Kosovo could set a dangerous example to its
substantial Hungarian minority, even though Hungarian parties in Slovakia
do not advocate secession. (END)
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