North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the main opponent of the socialist camp in the Cold War, decided after the fall of communism in these countries to expand its power to the East and to unify the European security. The historical NATO summit in Madrid (8th - 9th July 1997) brought new division of Europe. In early 1990s, three Central-European countries were supposed to be able to join NATO: Czechoslovakia (which was divided into two countries in 1993), Poland and Hungary. Slovakia with its Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar began to loose behind three countries mainly in the democratic system, when the referendum marred by the government and many other government's crimes moved Slovakia out of the first line among post-communistic countries. And the Madrid summit arrived... Czech republic, Poland and Hungary were invited to the dialogues in the first round as awaited. The second round is proposed for Romania and Slovenia, countries that where supported by several NATO member countries. Other countries were wished to do all the best to be invited later. But one country, that was ranged among four hot candidates few years ago, Slovakia, wasn't mentioned at all. Many foreign diplomats preferred not to talk about Slovakia at all. The Czech President Vaclav Havel, well known and popular in the whole world, feels sorry about that Slovakia won't be invited to NATO. Of course, it's not good for Czechs, as they have a frontier with our country, which will be a frontier between NATO and East Europe. When one Slovak journalist asked him who is responsible for the fiasco of Slovakia, he covered the microphone and pointed on nearstanding V. Meciar and said: "Ask your Prime Minister." V. Meciar, as usually, laid the whole blame on the opposition, on the President, on the journalists, even on NATO and the Americans. The main excuse was that NATO doesn't use the same meter for all countries. Of course, nobody understands the political system here in Slovakia. He said that he should find some serious press agency in the world that would inform only positively on Slovakia, when our ones don't know how to do it. But, as on purpose, he refused to make an interview with a journalist of CNN, who offered it to him. Also, he organized a press-foyer in the same time as American president B. Clinton. The representatives of the Slovak Army were very sad of the decision of NATO. They always emphasize that Slovakia was prepared even better than other three countries in the army sector. This might be true (the government always repeated it), but the political stability is more important. The American ambassador in Slovakia, Ralph Johnson, explained few days later, why Slovakia couldn't be accepted in NATO in the first round. (You can read his speech here). His refusals of undemocratic manners met the right object - V. Meciar refused his ideas, and Meciar attributed Johnson to the Soviet ambassador in Czechoslovakia in 1968, Chervonenko. This Soviet diplomat was very unpleasant and he wanted to make the politics - it was also him, who caused the invasion of Soviet troops in Czechoslovakia in 1968. Ralph Johnson didn't comment this resolution, even when the entire Slovak government agreed, that Johnson is like Chervonenko. Some deputies from Meciar's HZDS said, that Johnson was not well informed - he used just the opposition's sources of information. Like always, if the government is not successful (often), it blames everybody. Slovak Prime Minister got a question: "What blame do you take on yourself that Slovakia was not accepted?" "NONE." - this must be really a strong individuality... By the way, NATO is not a tragedy - we still have two years of time! Miroslav Sedivy (Bratislava, Slovakia) | |||