Embassy Row

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RELATIONS IMPROVING

When Peter Burian left the Slovak Embassy last year to return to the foreign ministry in Bratislava, U.S.-Slovak relations were strained, with Washington complaining about a lack of democratic progress in the Central European country.

That was one reason the Slovak Republic was dropped from the list of new candidates for NATO.

On a recent visit, Mr. Burian, now responsible for human rights, saw a change.

"U.S.-Slovak relations have been developing quite well recently," he told Embassy Row last week after three days of meetings with administration and congressional officials.

Mr. Burian said he had a "very frank …