NEW POLISH GOVERNMENT LISTS MISSILE DEFENSE IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L WARSAW 003826

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/14/2010
TAGS: MARR PREL PGOV PARM PL
SUBJECT: NEW POLISH GOVERNMENT LISTS MISSILE DEFENSE IN
PUBLIC DOCUMENT ON PRIORITIES

REF: WARSAW 3806

Classified By: Political Counselor Mary Curtin for reasons 1.4 (b) and
(d)


1. (U) In a published addendum to his November 10 expose to
the Sejm (Parliament) in advance of the first vote of
confidence in his newly formed government (reftel),PM
Marcinkiewicz included a specific statement on missile
defense cooperation with the United States. The statement
listed as one of the new GOP's essential goals Poland's
becoming the "third element of MDI." This particular passage
of the GOP program, which was included in the Foreign Affairs
subsection titled "Western Policy," received wide coverage in
major dailies and on radio and TV over the November 11 Polish
Independence Day holiday weekend, including a front page
story November 14 in the daily "Gazeta Wyborcza."


2. (U) Embassy informal translation of the Missile Defense
passage follows:

BEGIN TEXT.

In relations with the United States, an essential task
allowing a deepening of the strategic partnership with that
country would be (Poland's) explicit expression of readiness
to take part in the Missile Defense System (MDI). We seek to
have Poland included in the so-called "third element" of
MDI, related to radar tracking and destruction. Our efforts
in this direction will be successful, if we guarantee real
coordination of the activities of the ministries engaged,
especially the MFA and MOD, in the framework of the working
group headed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

END TEXT.


3. (U) The November 14 Gazeta Wyborcza piece quoted a partial
retraction by Marcinkiewicz of the published document, as
well as critical comments from former GOP officials and
others. Marcinkiewicz said on November 12 that, "No
decisions have been taken and we will thoroughly analyze
everything and only then inform the public whether it's good
or bad for Poland." Former FM Adam Rotfeld called the public
discussion of the matter "amateurish," and added that "We're
conducting a delicate dialogue on this matter with the United
States, we were asked to be discreet, and now something like
this shows up in government documents." Civic Platform
leader Jan Rokita commented that "up until now the U.S. had
been seeking our cooperation (on MDI),but now it appears we
are seeking theirs." Former DefMin Jerzy Szmajdzinski
suggested that Poland's "overzealousness could be received
badly by our NATO allies and Russia."


4. (C) MFA Americas Department Deputy Director Pawel
Dobrowolski told PolMil Chief November 14 that the MDI
passage had been the result of "an unfortunate editing error
by the Prime Minister's staff. They included in this public
document information that had been provided to them for
internal consumption only." He made very clear that the MFA
had never intended for this information to be published, and
noted former FM Rotfeld's statement in particular.


4. (C) COMMENT. During the electoral campaign, many domestic
and foreign analysts worried that PiS had much less foreign
and security policy experience than Civic Platform, and this
first foreign policy misstep of the new GOP seems to bear
that out. Dobrowolski's boss at the MFA, Americas Director
Amb. Henryk Szlajfer told us several weeks ago that the new
government was "very eager on Missile Defense," and that they
were hoping for an early decision on a third site, raising
the possibility that the PM's office chose intentionally to
publish heretofore internal, if not technically classified,
information. We believe, however, that Dobrowolski's and
Rotfeld's assessment of the matter is more likely.
Nonetheless, including this information in a public document
apparently without consulting MFA or MOD in advance is not a
good sign. Fortunately, the weekend flurry of media coverage
is likely to wane quickly, and Missile Defense will fade once
again from the public eye.
HILLAS