EU FOREIGN MINISTERS' MEETING AND EU CUBA POLICY:

C O N F I D E N T I A L VIENNA 001935 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/ERA AND EUR/AGS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/10/2015 TAGS: PREL PHUM PARM IR IZ LE YI CM CU AU EUN SUBJECT: EU FOREIGN MINISTERS' MEETING AND EU CUBA POLICY: AUSTRIAN RESPONSE REF: A) STATE 105235 B) STATE 102505 C) VIENNA 1740 D) VIENNA 1826 Classified By: ACTING DEPUTY CHIEF OF MISSION GREGORY E. PHILLIPS REASONS: 1.4 (B) AND (D) ¶1. (SBU) Embassy delivered ref (a) points on the upcoming GAERC to Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on June 7. Embassy delivered ref (b) points on Cuba on June 3. Pol Unit chief then discussed the issues on June 8 with Andreas Riecken, MFA Coordinator for EU Common Foreign and Security Policy. ¶2. (C) BALKANS/KOSOVO: Riecken thanked us for the copies of Under Secretary Burns' testimony and speech. He said that the focus during the GAERC would be on Kosovo. The standards review would soon result in a need to consider the "the post-UNSC 1244 period." Austria was prepared to tackle the organization of a Thessaloniki follow-up conference during its EU presidency, but only if there were realistic prospects for success. The Commission was encouraging Austria to plan for such a conference, he added. ¶3. (SBU) IRAN: Riecken told us that Iran was not on the agenda for the June 13 GAERC but would figure in the Conclusions of the EU Summit on June 16-17. He added that there was complete agreement between the EU and the U.S. on the need for Iran to abandon its uranium enrichment program. ¶4. (SBU) LEBANON: Riecken told us that Lebanon was not an agenda item for the GAERC, and that the current draft of the Conclusions for the EU Summit did not address Lebanon, "but that could change, depending on new developments." ¶5. (SBU) IRAQ: Riecken said Austria appreciated the importance of the U.S.-EU sponsored conference, and confirmed that Foreign Minister Plassnik was planning to attend (ref c). ¶6. (SBU) U.S.-EU SUMMIT: Austria was following developments closely in preparation for its assumption of the Presidency in January 2006, Riecken said. We commented that there may be some decisions taken at the June 20 Summit in Washington with a reporting date for follow-up at the 2006 Summit. ¶7. (C) CHINA ARMS EMBARGO: We emphasized that the Code of Conduct would not be a substitute for the Embargo, and that a lift would have serious repercussions. Riecken commented that the Luxembourgers, "like star pupils," were trying to complete action on a goal they had set for their presidency. However, Riecken confided, he did not see any consensus on a lift emerging now, and also doubted strongly that the UK presidency would push the issue. This made it more likely that the problem would land on Austria's desk in 2006, he added. ¶8. (C) EU CUBA POLICY (ref b): Riecken commented that the PSC, COREPER, and the GAERC would all consider this issue over the next few days, but that finding a consensus would be difficult. The Spanish wanted to be most accommodating to the Cuban regime, while the Czechs were holding out for a harder line. All member states regretted the actions the Cuban government had taken to prevent attendance at the opposition meeting on May 20 - but some felt that it was a positive sign that the regime had allowed the meeting to take place at all. Riecken thought that neither the common measures nor their later suspension had produced the positive effects the EU had sought. It might be preferable for EU member states to calibrate their own responses to Castro's oppressive measures (ref d) -- rather than lock them into a lowest-common-denominator position. Brown