INITIAL ROMANIAN RESPONSE TO ISAF CAVEATS DEMARCHE

C O N F I D E N T I A L BUCHAREST 000913 SIPDIS STATE DEPT FOR EUR/NCE - WILLIAM SILKWORTH E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/12/2015 TAGS: PREL MARR AF RO NATO SUBJECT: INITIAL ROMANIAN RESPONSE TO ISAF CAVEATS DEMARCHE REF: STATE 60862 Classified By: POLITICAL SECTION CHIEF ROBERT GILCHRIST FOR REASONS 1.4 B AND D ¶1. (C) PolMilOff discussed Romanian "national caveats" on Romanian forces participating in NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan April 11 with Mihaela Matei, Director of the MOD's Strategic Affairs Directorate (Ref). Pursuant to Reftel instructions, PolMilOff addressed the Romanian caveats providing that Romanian military police cannot be used for riot control missions and providing that military police cannot be used outside their area of responsibility. Matei promised to share our concerns with senior MOD officials. She also promised to raise these matters with appropriate MFA interlocutors, stressing, however, that the MOD will be the principal decision maker within the GOR on national caveats issues. ¶2. (C) Addressing first the "geographical caveat," Matei insisted that this is not a Romanian caveat, per se, but a decision of the commander in the area of operations. She continued that, in any event, "some (Romanian) troops do not necessarily have the means to operate outside of area." Turning next to the use of military police for riot control missions, Matei underscored that "this is an old issue" linked to "sufficient training and proper weapons." She opined that using military police for riot control, absent adequate training and equipment designed for riot control, could have disastrous consequences. In broader terms, Matei observed that the Romanian armed forces are institutionally "very reluctant to do riot control given the events of 1989," when some troops used unnecessary deadly force to suppress demonstrations aimed at the communist-era Romanian government. DELARE