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