Slovakia has managed within a short period of time to affirm its statehood, become a democratic country, a member of the EU and NATO, while at the same time improving the quality of life of its people. How has this country managed to achieve this? What motivated them? What does Bratislava expect from the new Ukrainian government? These and other questions were raised in The Day ’s exclusive interview with the Speaker of the Slovak Foreign Minister Peter STANO, who is the eyes, ears, and mouth of his boss Miroslav Laicak.
“Slovakia’s main motivation came from the fact that we wanted to become a part of the prestigious club known as the European Union, and which is the most prestigious project in Europe’s postwar history.
“After long years behind the iron curtain, when Europe was divided into two camps, we wanted to join the democratic part and share those democratic values and human rights that are best protected by the EU.
“One of the best aspects of the EU is that after integration you get allies, partners, and solidarity. Therefore membership in this community was also helpful for Slovakia. Of course, to achieve this goal we had to transform the country so as to meet membership criteria. My minister often says that Slovakia is a successful country, and this is recognized throughout the world without demur.”
Why?
“Because within a very short period of time we have succeeded in building our own independent state, including state institutions. Slovakia never had its own institutions, as we were part of Czechoslovakia, and its smaller partner at that, despite being a part of a federation. We changed the regime, transformed our political and economic system. In 15 years we practically completed three things at once. We are EU members and part of the Eurozone. This cannot be said about our neighbors and Visegrad group partners: the Czech Republic, Poland, or Hungary.
We are members of the Schengen zone, and we can travel freely all over Europe. This strong integration is a fantastic achievement, and we are very proud of it. It would have been very hard to achieve without people cooperating and being ready to make sacrifices for the sake of reforms and changes. And now they can make use of all the advantages provided by EU membership.”
Is there no threat that Slovakia would return to a Meciar-like regime, when the mass media was suppressed and your country was called the black hole on Europe’s map?
“I will not give you any names, but I can say that Slovakia is deeply integrated into the EU and devoted to the values of this community. Therefore I don’t think that there is any possibility that we will return to those times. In June we will have parliamentary elections, and based on their results you and your readers will be able to judge whether what I am saying is true. But I am pretty sure that Slovakia is devoted to upholding European values and principles.”
You may know that many EU countries harbor increasing distrust towards Brussels, but in your country the level of trust is the highest in Europe (over 70 percent among the surveyed Slovaks). What are the grounds of this European optimism?
“There are two reasons behind this. First, we are a very young state and have been dealing with our own affairs for 17 years only. Slovaks can see the benefits of EU membership. Slovakia receives EU funds for its infrastructure projects, modernization of the water-purifying structures, etc. One must clearly understand that being part of the EU gives you allies and places you in a better part of the world.”
Does your country succeed in making the 500-million EU hear its voice despite, considering your small territory and only 5.4 million inhabitants?
“You might ask this question in every capital (laughs). Some critics say that only Brussels speaks. But, of course, Slovakia is trying to make its voice heard, and it behaves in a responsible way. My minister keeps saying that Slovakia is a very responsible member of the EU, because we are transparent, compatible and consistent. We don’t create problems or conflicts within the EU. We always try to find a compromise or consensus. We are open and don’t change our position from day to day. Everyone who deals with Slovakia knows what we stand for and what one can expect from us. I think that if you present yourself as a serious and responsible partner, and others will accept you so.”
According to the report on human rights which was made public by the US State Department yesterday (the interview was taken on March 12. – Author), the situation with freedom of expression in Slovakia has deteriorated. The report mentions cases when mass media were fined by the prime minister and the supreme judge, thus affecting the freedom of press. How can you comment on this?
“We view this report as an opinion of our important partner. But this remains the US’ viewpoint, and specifically, how it defines human rights. We take this into consideration. For us it is important that the report says that the Slovak government takes measures and is doing everything possible to maintain human rights. Speaking about the freedom of the press, this should be discussed with the ministry of culture, responsible for the law on the press code, or the media themselves. I can say that there have been no cases in our country when the state would restrict the freedom of the press. We consider mass media a vitally important part of our pluralistic democratic society.
“As for the cases when politicians had law suits against mass media, you should talk with the politicians themselves, as we cannot speak their part – we are a ministry of foreign affairs. Therefore we don’t comment on what politicians are doing. The Foreign Ministry has never had any problems with the mass media and will never think of using legal instruments to persecute mass media. But we also expect that the mass media will behave in a responsible way. I have been a journalist until recently.”
The article “The end of history in Europe’s ex-captive nations?” which has recently been published in the European Voice, asserts that Central and Eastern Europe will soon join the club of anti-historical and apathetic countries. Does this refer to Slovakia?
“We are trying to underline that Slovakia is looking ahead, not backwards. Before the global crisis we experienced unprecedented growth. We are one of the world’s biggest per capita car producers. This has attracted a lot of investments. History should be left to historians. Taking into account the huge speed of transformation, we should become more focused on the future, not on the past. However, we are doing the latter as well, because the past carries many lessons for the future. But we do not think that we should pay too much attention to historical injustices involving Russians, Czechs, or Hungarians. We do not play with historical injustice and focus our attention on the future. Hopefully, we will succeed in this.”
In your opinion, what lessons of your country’s experience can Ukraine benefit from, in its hopes of becoming an EU or NATO member, and enter the Eurozone afterwards?
“We are ready to share any kind of experience with you, depending on your needs. We consider Ukraine our most important neighbor. We want to have as good relations as possible with your country, support contacts between people, as well as political contacts. We have know-how, people who played a role in the integration process, therefore we are ready to share our precious experience. We have prepared a catalog of proposals and gave them to the Ukrainian side. Hopefully, everything will settle down in your country, both in terms of politics and organization. This means forming a new government and defining the new administration’s priorities. We are ready – and this is the most important signal Ukrainians should be aware of – to help you by any means, so that it was convenient and useful for you.”
You called Ukraine Slovakia’s most important partner. But why is trade exchange between Ukraine and Slovakia so low, especially considering that your other neighbors are smaller?
“We are not glad about this. We would like to see trade and economic exchange grow between our countries. So far our greatest trade partners are our neighboring partners from the EU, with whom we share a common market, and have no border, customs control, or tariffs. Our common border with Ukraine is not extensive. It is not only geographical/physical border but also a border between two worlds: EU and our Eastern Partners. And these structures have different market regulations. We would like to see our cooperation increase in spite of these barriers. But we should push our businessmen and yours to increase the exchange and find ways to make business. The government should try to make their life as easy as possible.”
What do you expect from the new Ukrainian government in this respect?
“We expect that communication and cooperation between our countries will develop. We are ready to continue our dialog with Ukraine and even improve it. I have already said that Ukraine is our best neighbor, and if it is of the same opinion about us, I think those are ideal conditions for cooperation. I see no reason for change just because government changes. We will be involved in concrete projects and share our experience for your benefit.
“As for the expectations from the new government, we believe that political stabilization in Ukraine will also be helpful for the dialog between Ukraine and its international partners. We hope that the external policy course taken by the new political leadership will meet the demands and needs of your population, as well as the principle: to live together in Europe as partners, in peace.”
