CHR 61: REQUEST TO AUSTRIA FOR ASSISTANCE ON THE

UNCLAS VIENNA 001124 SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/AGS - VIKMANIS-KELLER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM AU UNHRC EUN SUBJECT: CHR 61: REQUEST TO AUSTRIA FOR ASSISTANCE ON THE CUBA RESOLUTION REF: A. (A) STATE 60754 ¶B. (B) VIENNA 1062 ¶1. On April 5, EconPolCouns and Pol Unit Chief presented reftel points to Rudolf Lennkh, the Foreign Ministry's Americas director. Lennkh noted (per ref b) that Austria had supported EU co-sponsorship of this year's Cuba resolution in the UN Human Rights Commission. He said that Fidel Castro's harsh response to mild EU pressure on human rights had backfired on the Cubans. Even those EU states which most supported positive engagement with the Cuban regime -- "including those whose governments had recently changed," Lennkh said -- to favor co-sponsorship. ¶2. Lennkh said that Austria had only limited access to the three countries which we cited in our demarche, but he undertook to consult with his colleagues in the relevant bureaus of the Ministry. In any event, he said, the most effective lobbying efforts would take place in Geneva, where many representatives felt themselves empowered to determine their own positions. Brown