UN SUMMIT OUTCOME DOUCMENT: AUSTRIAN RESPONSE

C O N F I D E N T I A L VIENNA 003030 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR IO/UNP, EUR/PGI AND EUR/AGS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/12/2015 TAGS: PREL AU UNGA SUBJECT: UN SUMMIT OUTCOME DOUCMENT: AUSTRIAN RESPONSE REF: STATE 163224 Classified By: ACTING ECONOMIC/POLITICAL COUNSELOR MICHAEL DETAR REASONS: 1.4 (B) AND (D) ¶1. (C) Embassy Vienna carried out reftel demarche to MFA A/S-equivalent (Acting) for International Organization Affairs Dr. Helmut Boeck on September 7. Boeck said that the Austrian delegation in New York had welcomed the evident interest their U.S. counterparts had shown in having a true give-and-take on the summit document. Still, Boeck said, given the few days remaining until the High-Level Event (HLE) begins, the time pressure was enormous. Boeck asked whether the U.S. still envisioned the final document as a two or three page political declaration. For his part, he hoped that the negotiated result would be "sensible and comprehensive." ¶2. (C) Boeck noted several areas of "affinities and parallels" between U.S. and EU positions -- UN administrative and personnel reforms, reform of the Human Rights Commission and the creation of the Peacebuilding Commission. Other areas, according to Boeck, are more contentious, such as the International Criminal Court and Kyoto Protocol. In any case, Boeck said, Austria views the UN as a critical institution, the primary instrument of multilateralism. Austria believes the HLE summit document should build on past outcomes, including the Millennium Summit. Brown