FUNDING AFGHANISTAN'S PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS:

C O N F I D E N T I A L VIENNA 001192 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR SA/AR, SA/PAB, DRL, EUR/ERA AND EUR/AGS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/12/2015 TAGS: PREL EAID AF AU UNSC SUBJECT: FUNDING AFGHANISTAN'S PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS: AUSTRIAN RESPONSE REF: A) STATE 61560 B) VIENNA 1136 C) VIENNA 1152 Classified By: ECONOMIC-POLITICAL COUNSELOR GREGORY E. PHILLIPS REASONS: 1.4 (B) AND (D) ¶1. (SBU) Embassy discussed ref (a) points on April 5 with Rudolf Lennkh, the Foreign Ministry's A/S-equivalent for the Americas (ref b). We also conveyed the information to Peter Storer, Director for South and Southeast Asia, and followed up with him on April 11. Storer, whose office is coordinating the issue, said that the decision on a possible bilateral decision depends on the outcome of the current interagency process to develop an strategy for Austrian assistance. The goal, Storer said, is "to focus resources in order to make the biggest impact possible." While Austria wants to be involved in Afghanistan's reconstruction, Storer noted that the Austrian Development Agency (ref b) does not intend to designate Afghanistan as one of its priority areas. ¶2. (C) COMMENT: As we reported ref (c),the Austrian Defense Ministry will recommend, with MFA support, that Austria deploy troops to Konduz to help provide election security. The interagency priority-setting exercise may result in Austria choosing to assume responsibilities for election security, rather than making a large cash contribution for the conduct of the elections. Brown