By Zoltán Dujisin
BUDAPEST, Jan 24 2007 (IPS)

The possibility of an official trip by charismatic Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico to Venezuela, China and Libya is causing uproar in the media and opposition, who insist Slovakia should stick to its Euro-Atlantic orientation and rid itself of socialist nostalgia.

Throughout the 1990s, foreign policies of the successor states of the socialist republics in Central-Eastern Europe have mostly been aimed at joining the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).

But the election of social democrat Fico in 2006 in this country of five million, amidst growing discontent with the old right-wing government’s pro-market policies, has brought many surprises.

Fico was critical of Slovakia’s foreign policy under previous prime minister Mikulas Dzurinda, who he condemned over his “fixation” with the United States and “neglect” of Russia.

Relations with Russia were pragmatic, but fostering ties with Moscow became associated, largely due to right-wing rhetoric, with a return to the past and a danger to the country’s democratisation.

While promising overall continuity in foreign policy, Fico’s planned visits to several South American countries, China and Libya are seen by pundits as confirming suspicions of a shift in Slovak foreign policy.

“Only areas connected to the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) were considered important,” Tomas Strazay, an analyst with the Slovak Foreign Policy Association told IPS.

“Opening new relations is seen with certain suspicion,” says Strazay, “but we need more time to analyse trends.”

Slovak officials say future trips will be aimed at deepening economic links rather than political ties.

“The focus on economic relations is playing an increasingly important role in Slovak foreign policy, while the presence of values is being forgotten,” Strazay told IPS.

Slovakia’s previous cabinet had supported an agenda of promoting human rights, and high-level officials had been involved, together with the non-governmental sector, in fostering democratic opposition movements in ‘socialist’ countries such as Cuba and Belarus.

Earlier this month, Fico’s attendance at an embassy reception marking the anniversary of the Cuban revolution was the first sign of alarm for his opponents, who accused him of indirectly supporting an undemocratic regime.

An information leak last week on planned official trips to Libya, Venezuela, and China, all countries adhering to socialist values, added fuel to the controversy.

Government critics argue Slovakia should refrain from sending such high-level representation to countries with a problematic human rights record, and are also insisting Slovakia should raise human rights issues in future meetings.

Former Slovak foreign minister Eduard Kukan was among the first to point out Slovakia should be “considerate of our allies. Going to Venezuela shortly after the Iranian and Venezuelan presidents founded there a pact to fight against the United States is an ill-considered step,” he claimed.

“Smaller and newer EU member states like Slovakia are watched very closely by bigger actors,” Strazay told IPS. “Steps like this can only be taken by bigger states, with a different past and another political weight.”

Slovakia has not yet confirmed or denied the planned trips, but Slovak foreign minister Jan Kubis responded to accusations by claiming the EU and NATO remain Slovakia’s priorities, and that the country is concerned about human rights and does not brush the topic under the carpet during talks.

Kubis nevertheless expressed surprise over the media fixation with Chavez, tagged as “Latin America’s menace” by a local journalist. “The Venezuela issue is highly speculative in my view. I am surprised at how intensively the visit is talked about,” Kubis told the press.

But how to relate to socialist states is always a dilemma for post-socialist countries unwilling to look back. “Contacts with socialist countries were intense in the past and it’s not easy to re-establish diplomatic and economic relations,” a Hungarian diplomatic source told IPS.

Besides historical traumas, the critics’ focus on socialist states is also fuelled by economic fears that “property in socialist countries could be nationalised”, the diplomat told IPS.

Slovakia’s choices are, however scarce, as the Prime Minister has received few invitations from abroad due to his alliance with an extreme-right party.

Last year his left-wing Smer (Direction) Party formed a governing coalition with the nationalist Slovak National Party (SNS) and the populist Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) of former prime minister Vladimir Meciar.

The move led to international condemnation and to Smer’s suspension from the family of European Socialist Parties.

But Slovakia has seen darker days in the past. Between 1994 and 1998 Meciar’s semi-authoritarian government lead to Slovakia’s isolation from the West, just as its neighbours were converging towards NATO and the EU.

In 1998 a coalition of anti-Meciar parties lead by Dzurinda took office and Slovakia returned to a Euro-Atlantic foreign policy typical of countries in the region.

Between 1998 and 2006 Dzurinda achieved EU and NATO membership and implemented several reforms which were celebrated abroad but were often unpopular at home.

Conversely, Fico is seen with suspicion in the West but his party has the highest approval rate ever registered in democratic Slovakia.

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