TOP INTERVIEWS Interview with H.E. MIKULAS DZURINDA, Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic October 2001 Since the 1998 elections, several economic measures were taken; an important macroeconomic program was also launched in the second half of 1999. How would you describe today the results of your economic policy? For a politician, the most important criteria of an economic reform is its impact on the citizens. I have to admit that there is a long way to go for us to be satisfied. Real wages have dropped significantly in the last two years because of these economic reforms. We had to deregulate many prices, we had to decrease the public finance deficit, we had a decline in consumption and all these factors have had a negative impact on people’s lives. We adopted measures to increase labor productivity, and this also had an impact on the level of unemployment. The citizens didn’t perceive the impact as a positive one. Despite all of this, we have in 2001 positive figures in the living standard measurements. We observed a slow but steady growth of real wages. The number of new jobs created is also up. I consider the consequences of the economic reform positive for citizens as well. In economic terms, the best proof of what we are doing well is the recent upgrade of our Investment Rating. During the previous government period, Slovakia dropped out of the investment ratings, but now it is making it back there again. I think this is because we were really successful in stabilizing the economy, we are reporting sound economic growth and the structure of this growth is much better than in previous years. The inflation is declining and public finance is stable. Privatization has been successfully restructured. The financial sector has been privatized almost completely. When comparing with neighboring countries, how would you describe the progress made by your Government towards the adoption of the “Acquis Communautaire”? This area is where Slovakia has achieved the most significant progress. We were invited to negotiate only at the Helsinki summit in 1999. We were two years behind our neighbors Poland, Hungary and Czech Republic. Today we closed the same amount of chapters as Czech Republic, and even more than Poland. Simply, we caught up and are now among the countries that are about to be admitted in 2004. I don’t see any weak spot that would prevent us to conclude the negotiations next year. Neither agriculture, nor the energy sector, everything has been taken care of in these areas. You seem very optimistic about this issue, however acceptance of Slovakia into the EU may not just be achieved through economic performance, but also through some fundamental changes within the society. Do you believe that Slovak people will adapt to the European Community? I think that Slovak people are more than prepared in their minds. They are still more and more aware of the fact that they cannot reap the fruit of their sacrifice until joining the EU. We have to be able to compete on that market. I consider as very positive the fact that more than 80% of the population is for the EU accession. Slovakia has also applied for NATO’s membership, which should be concluded by the end of 2002. Do you consider being a NATO member as important as being member of the EU? Both integration goals have the same importance for us. And they also determine each other. I personally think that every member of the EU should be also a member of NATO. Especially these days I consider extremely important to maintain and strengthen NATO. I have never realized this so intensively. Europe and the USA should join and hold together, that should be the basics of the world democracy. Slovakia is located in the geographical center of Europe, so it is absolutely important for us to be a member of both the EU and NATO. There are also some practical reasons, if you look at the borders of the Schengen Alliance, you must realize that it is also important for Austria, Hungary and Poland that we become a member of NATO. We discussed with Lord Robertson potential areas where we have to concentrate our efforts. Lord Robertson is a very open and frank person and we greatly appreciate this attitude. I am planning to meet Lord Robertson again and also the Ambassadors of the NATO member countries, on December 10th, in Brussels. We are in the last phase of our effort for the membership and I would like to report about this. Do you consider this forthcoming meeting with Mr. Robertson as a positive signal in view of Prague’s event next year? A responsible politician must have a careful approach to this issue. Next year is going to be the year for the legislative elections in Slovakia, and we understand we have to do a lot to get a clear message from Prague. I understand this completely and therefore I am not worried, everything is in our hands. To what extent do you consider the decentralization of strategic industries crucial to economic development? I think that the project of the public administration reform is the largest democratic project since the fall of Communism. We have regional elections on December 1st. A lot of properties and responsibilities will be transferred into the hands of regional governments according to the “subsidiarity” principle. It is a proof of trust. It is going to take a while, but we have a certain idea how things should look like and we will adjust the whole tax policy to this. This process is not going to be stopped, and I am very pleased about this. When it comes to investments: we have recently adopted a few new laws in the area of the industrial zones and the law on investment incentives. It is stated very clearly how the state will contribute to the infrastructure reform, to the reeducation of employees, new technologies, tax holidays. All these should affect foreign investors positively. Also, the creation of new regions is going to be very attractive for foreign investors because they will have new responsible partners. This also means stability of legislation and the successful fight against corruption. Slovakia has made progress in all these areas. We want to create a more transparent business environment. The most important proof of this are the new foreign investors, for example US Steel. We have noticed more interest from the USA, from companies such as Molex and Motorola for example… and I am glad about that. When do you expect the transfer of responsibilities from central to regional/local government to be fully implemented? I would like to point out that everything needs time. We try to get some experience from the other countries going through this process, for example Spain, France, Hungary. I hope that we will be able to implement this principle in a short time. Recently was adopted a law in favor of the “subsidiarity” principle. This law is about the transfer of competencies. On a more personal level, we know that you are an excellent marathon runner and that you even ran the NY marathon this year. How did you feel about it? It was a fantastic experience. I usually run one marathon a year, it is my long time hobby, but unfortunately I am getting older. I had first decided not to run this year in NY, but I completely changed my mind after the September 11th attacks; I was happy to be there. I had the impression that life was coming back to the city. It was a strong and fine feeling. I met people all over Manhattan. I met a fireman named Michael Warchola, (which is a common eastern Slovak name). He had a brother also a fireman, who died during the rescuing efforts in the WTC. As I found out they had origin in Slovakia, emotionally it was a strong experience for me to meet these people (firemen and policemen of NY), who risked their lives. I will never forget that. To conclude, I feel that Americans and Slovaks are very close to each other and solidarity is certainly much more important than money. Note: WINNE cannot be held responsible for the content of unedited transcriptions.