DEMARCHE TO AUSTRIA ON ISRAEL AT UNGA -- OPPOSING

UNCLAS VIENNA 003420 SIPDIS STATE FOR IO/UNP - HOTZ AND EUR/AGS - VIKMANIS-KELLER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL IS AU UNGA SUBJECT: DEMARCHE TO AUSTRIA ON ISRAEL AT UNGA -- OPPOSING ANTI-ISRAEL BIAS REF: STATE 188933 ¶1. EconPolCouns delivered reftel demarche to Austrian the Foreign Ministry's acting International Organizations head, Helmut Boeck, on October 20. ¶2. Boeck expressed appreciation for our timely approach on this issue. He said the EU was coordinating member state positions on these issues in the General Assembly. This was an intense consultation process, and the Presidency country (currently the United Kingdom, and soon to be Austria) was in the lead. The result was that almost all votes would reflect a coherent EU position. Boeck said informally that he thought the EU member states were leaning toward again abstaining on the votes to extend the mandates of the three bodies discussed reftel. ¶3. Boeck said UN reform was indeed important to Austria, and the review of mandates was an important part of this initiative. He noted that the UN Secretariat was working on a list of mandates for consideration, and this was due in the beginning of 2006. ¶4. ¶3. van Voorst