FEBRUARY 21 GAERC: FINLAND RESPONSE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HELSINKI 000207 SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/ERA AND EUR/NB E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/17/2015 TAGS: PREL UP MD SR BK SU HR FI EUN EU GAERC SUBJECT: FEBRUARY 21 GAERC: FINLAND RESPONSE REF: A. STATE 25111 ¶B. HELSINKI 186 Classified By: Ambassador Earle I. Mack for reasons 1.4(B) and (D) ¶1. (U) We delivered Ref A demarche to the Finnish MFA and the Prime Minister's Office on February 11. In a February 16 follow-up conversation with Kimmo Lahdevirta, Finnish EU Correspondent, Lahdevirta provided GoF views on the GAERC agenda and a preview of the issues the Finns want to raise during the President's visit to Brussels. The February 22 Meetings -------------- ¶2. (C) Given the division of responsibilities in the Finnish constitution -- President Tarja Halonen has authority for the nation's foreign policy, while Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen is responsible for EU affairs -- both Halonen and Vanhanen plan to attend the February 22 meeting with President Bush. They have agreed, however, that Halonen will speak for Finland. Ref B reports the Ambassador's recent conversation with President Halonen, in which Halonen said a theme for her remarks in Brussels will be the need for close U.S./EU and transatlantic cooperation on all the emerging challenges of the 21st century, not just crisis management. Lahdevirta said he also expects Halonen to touch on the situation in the Western Balkans, and the need for the EU to maintain conditionality. Halonen will note that the EU is taking on more responsibility in the area, but will stress that continued U.S. involvement is critically important. (Note: President Halonen made the latter point in her conversation with the Ambassador.) ¶3. (C) Lahdevirta said FM Tuomioja assumes that in their parallel meeting with the Secretary, most of the Foreign Ministers will focus their remarks on the Middle East. Tuomioja, therefore, believes it would be useful for him to concentrate on other issues, such as Afghanistan, the global war on terrorism, and Darfur. Lahdevirta said he expects Tuomioja to underline the need for the international community to combat terrorism and the proliferation of WMD, but to do so always in accordance with international law. Tuomioja may also make the case for referring any Darfur-related war crimes prosecutions to the ICC. Lahdevirta said the GoF hopes the U.S. will abstain on this matter, since none of the cases is likely to involve U.S. citizens. We reiterated the U.S. view that the alternative approach of a UNSC-created court, administered by the UN and AU, is a good one on its merits and an efficient use of existing resources. Lahdevirta said that in any case, Tuomioja will not force a "head-to-head battle" over this matter that would "spoil the mood" at Brussels. Iraq -------------- ¶4. (SBU) According to Lahdevirta, the GoF understanding is that the EU police training mission will be launched shortly, with the first elements put into place in March and full operation by July. Training will be carried out on the territory of the EU nations offering courses, although there will be a liaison office at the UK embassy in Baghdad. Many or most EU nations will participate, although the details of who will provide what courses remain to be worked out. The Finns do not have the resources to host a course themselves, but will contribute civilian rule-of-law experts and/or police instructors to another nation's course. Lahdevirta confirmed that the ten police instructors Finland now provides on a national basis to the academy in Jordan will remain there as well. (Note: In the conversation reported in Ref B, President Halonen seemed to suggest that Finland might agree to host some kind of police training on Finnish soil as a "complementary" way of participating in Iraqi reconstruction short of committing troops or trainers inside Iraq.) Western Balkans -------------- ¶5. (C) Returning to the issue of conditionality, Lahdevirta argued that we must bear in mind that the Western Balkan nations are at different stages. Although President Halonen will not go into this level of detail in her Brussels remarks, the GoF believes that all Western Balkan nations must be treated in the same way: Serbia and Montenegro "should not be treated more harshly than Croatia was at a similar stage in years past." A Feasibility Study for Croatia began even though war crimes indictees had not all been surrendered. On the other hand, the closer a country gets to the prospect of actual accession talks, he said, the more strictly conditionality should be applied. Thus, the EU now must insist on delivery of Gotovina to the Hague before Croatia advances any further in the process. European Neighborhood Policy -------------- ¶6. (C) Lahdevirta said the U.S. and EU cooperate well on these issues. The GoF will make the point at the GAERC meeting (if the point needs to be made) that the EU must deal with Ukraine on its own -- not in the context of EU-Russian relations. Sudan/Darfur -------------- ¶7. (C) The Finns are worried, said Lahdevirta, by apparent AU resistance to including European experts in the African Union mission. He acknowledged the AU's need to retain ownership of the effort, but it is equally important that the operation achieve results. It does appear that the AU will accept the need for EU contribution to a police component. MACK