SLOVAKIA: Steering Clear of the U.S.
Mar 1
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 [..].
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.
[But t]he 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.
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