Slovaks and Americans greet US president-elect

By Beata Balogova

Though the gatherings in Bratislava couldn’t match the scenes at Grant Park in Chicago, where Barack Obama greeted news of his victory in the US presidential elections late on November 4, the Slovak capital still found ways to mark the American result and ponder the changes that the new administration might bring for this region and the world.

Obama, a Democratic first-term US senator, decisively defeated Republican Senator John McCain in what was an historic presidential election. He will become the first African-American president of the United States of America.

“We believe that the president-elect will support solutions to global challenges such as the financial crisis, terrorism, energy safety, global warming, famine and world poverty through international partnership,” said the Slovak Foreign Affairs Ministry in an official release. The ministry also said that Slovakia is ready for such cooperation.

“We have excellent relationships and I cannot foresee any changes that would be negative for Slovakia,” US Ambassador to Slovakia Vincent Obsitnik told the business community, diplomats, media and politicians who assembled on the morning of November 5 for a US Elections 2008 event.

According to Obsitnik, the visa waiver programme that Slovakia and the United States recently signed shows that the countries are agreed on how to proceed in the fight against terrorism and how they will share information on criminals.

There should be continuity in economic ties, and the fact that US companies have invested $4 billion in Slovakia suggests they are unlikely to leave, Obsitnik told the discussion panel, which was part of a series of election events organised by the US Embassy in Slovakia and the American Chamber of Commerce in Bratislava (AmCham).

As for reactions from Slovak politicians, Prime Minister Robert Fico initially issued a brief statement through his spokeswoman, Silvia Glendová, who said that Fico had noted the results of the US presidential elections and congratulated Obama on his victory.

He later told the news television station TA3 that he would be judging the result neither politically nor through the lens of party affiliation.

“Maybe this will come across as a bit simplistic, but bread will not be cheaper in Slovakia because of this,” Fico told TA3.

Slovak President Ivan Gašparovi? said that the election of an African-American represents a new phase in the perception of the state and an expression of democratic thinking in the United States.
Gašparovi? also said he believes the already good relations between Slovakia and the United States will improve.