AUSTRIA CONTINUES TO SUPPORT HIZBALLAH DESIGNATION

S E C R E T VIENNA 000607

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/02/2015
TAGS: ETTC PTER EFIN AU EUN
SUBJECT: AUSTRIA CONTINUES TO SUPPORT HIZBALLAH DESIGNATION

REF: A) STATE 34900 B) VIENNA 437

Classified By: ECONOMIC/POLITICAL COUNSELOR GREGORY E. PHILLIPS FOR
REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D).


1. (S) On March 1, Econ Unit Chief met with Johann
Froehlich, Head of the MFA's Justice and Home Affairs
Division, to deliver ref A talking points. Froehlich
reiterated that Austria continues to support Clearinghouse
designation of Lebanese Hizballah. "Austria," in Froehlich's
words, "was not the problem." In a February 28 discussion
with EconPol Counselor and Pol Unit Chief, Ralph Scheide, the
MFA's Director for the Middle East and Africa, also
emphasized that Austria supported the Hizballah designation,
but noted that several EU Member States continued to oppose
the designation.


2. (S) Froehlich welcomed the additional information in ref

A. He added that this level of information was particularly
useful for small- and medium-sized Member States that had no
independent intelligence-gaterhing capabilities in the
region. Froehlich admitted that Austria often relied on
intelligence from the larger Member States who were on the
ground. Froehlich encouraged the USG to provide detailed
arguments, as it did with Hizballah, to facilitate
Clearinghouse support for future, potentially contentious,
designation requests.


3. (S) Froelich said that certain Member States objected to
designating Hizballah, because they continued to believe the
organization could play a constructive role in the Middle
East Peace Process. According to Froehlich, the Hizballah
designation was a "high-level political issue," and he
suggested some Member States wanted additional, detailed
information on Hizballah activities for political cover.
Brown