ROMANIAN LIMITS IN PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BUCHAREST 001219

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE DEPT FOR EUR/NCE - WILLIAM SILKWORTH

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/28/2016
TAGS: MARR MASS PREL IS LE RO
SUBJECT: ROMANIAN LIMITS IN PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS,
THOUGHTS ON LEBANON

REF: SECSTATE 121375

Classified By: ADCM RODGER GARNER FOR REASONS 1.4 B AND D


1. (C) Summary. Despite popular sentiment in Romania that it
is already stretched thin in contributing to peacekeeping
operations overseas, decision makers appear cautiously
optimistic that Romania would contribute to an international
peace keeping force, should there be an UN mandate to
stabilize Lebanon. Upon returning from Washington, President
Basescu confirmed the cautiousness of this optimism by saying
he had not yet committed Romania to participate in a military
buffer force for Southern Lebanon, but would consider it.
Minister of Defense Atanasiu, who recently advocated for the
withdrawal of Romanian troops from Iraq, also made press
statements that Romania would send troops to Lebanon, if
requested and paid for by the United Nations. MOD and MFA
officials promised to reply, albeit slowly, to reftel
demarche's offer to participate in the Global Peace
Operations Initiative. The diminishing MOD budget, not the
Defense Minister's appeal for withdrawing troops from Iraq,
appears to be the major constraining force on Romania's
ability to contribute to peacekeeping operations. End
Summary.

Training for Peacekeeping
--------------


2. (C) PolOff delivered reftel cable on engaging Romania in
the Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI) to MOD Director
for Strategic Affairs Mihaela Matei and MFA Acting Director
for UN Affairs Eugen Mihut on July 27. Neither the MOD nor
the MFA representatives appeared overly enthusiastic about
the opportunity for training in peacekeeping operations. The
MOD's Matei said she would forward the message to the General
Staff, but focused her conversation on budgetary constraints
within the MOD. She was encouraged to hear that there could
be U.S. funding available, and said that would help determine
the degree of Romania's likely positive answer. She said
that it would likely take several weeks to formulate a reply.
She also mentioned the difficult transition MOD would be
undergoing as it ends conscription and wondered how that
would affect Romania's ability to deploy troops for
peacekeeping operations.


3. (C) The MFA's Mihut was much less enthusiastic, saying it
would take more than a month for Romania to form a reply and
that Romania is already stretched rather thin in just
maintaining its current peacekeeping commitments. He quickly
cited the MOD's budgetary restraints and limited number of
people that could be deployed overseas. Mihut emphasized the
political debate stemming from the center-right liberal
party's campaign to remove troops from Iraq, and suggested it
would be difficult for Romania to become further involved in
peacekeeping overseas.

Peacekeepers for Lebanon
--------------


4. (C) However, concerning the possibility of Romania
deploying peacekeeping troops to Lebanon, MFA Director
General for the Middle East and Global Affairs Stelian Stoian
told polchief that Romania would "probably consider
something" once it understands the size and type of force
organized and its mandate. Stoian said the debate spurred by
the Prime Minister over Romania's Iraq contribution would
have no bearing on a decision with regard to Lebanon or
anywhere else. Overall he seemed somewhat positive. Stoian
also asked what kind of contribution the U.S. was planning to
contribute to such a force.


5. (C) MFA Director for the Middle East Laura Mircea told
poloff that Romania is "extremely concerned with what happens
in Lebanon and northern Israel." She said Romania "believes
the international community can do something to bring an end
to the crisis" and that "an international force would likely
be necessary." She also mentioned the domestic situation
regarding requests to withdraw troops from Iraq, but said
there would be no such retreat. She said if there was an
international force -- whether UN, EU, or NATO -- with a
clear mandate accepted by Lebanon and Israel, Romania would
consider participating. She cautioned, however, that the MOD
"doesn't really have people" and she thought the likely
contribution would be very low, probably under 200 troops.


6. (C) The social democratic opposition party's George Maior,
President of the Senate's Defense Committee, told poloff that
"if there was an international force, legitimized by NATO or

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the UN, Romania would be an active player." Maior said that
PSD party leader Mircea Geoana commented about the
possibility of President Bush asking President Basescu for a
contribution of troops in Lebanon so that Basescu "would
focus on real security issues" and "not be engaged in
internal political disputes" such as those with the liberal
party over troops in Iraq or over the resignations of the
intelligence chiefs. Maior mentioned the sizeable financial
problems in terms of the MOD budget. He said the budget for
2007-2008 is now at 1.7%, rather than at 2.38% "where it
should have been" according to pre-NATO accession
commitments. He said the MOD budget is "continuously
decreasing," although he said he heard some discussions that
would positively adjust it. In any case, he said, the
government would allocate an extra amount should there be an
international force that Romania would join in Lebanon. He
estimated Romania could likely send 300-400 people for such
an effort, and pledged that the opposition party would
support such a contribution politically. He also estimated
that PNL's campaign to withdraw from Iraq was not going well
for them and that there were discussions within the party
that the leadership had gone too far on that issue. He said
that the Minister of Defense was in a difficult political
situation and he would therefore not be able to afford
"another radical stand" against deploying Romanian troops.
Maior said that "if there is a UN mandate and a NATO
umbrella, no one would complain" in Romania about
contributing forces.


7. (C) Minister of Defense Teodor Atanasiu declared to the
press on July 28 that "if the UN makes a request, we will get
involved in Lebanon." He said that he would wait to see what
the mission of such a peace-keeping force would be, and then
"make an offer accordingly." On July 31, Atanasiu added in a
televised interview that if Romania participated according to
a UN request, "the UN would pay the bill, as Romania does not
have the necessary resources." Atanasiu also announced that
the Finance Ministry's draft 2007-2010 budget "would not be
enough for the objectives of the Romanian Army, including
those assumed within NATO." The draft budget gradually
reduces military expenditures from 1.7% of GDP in 2007 to
1.3% of GDP in 2010.


8. (C) Upon returning from his trip to the U.S., President
Traian Basescu stated to the press that neither he nor anyone
else had committed Romania to sending a peacekeeping force
into Southern Lebanon, but that Romania would consider such
action, preferably based on a mandate from the UN Security
Council to enforce resolution 1559. The text regarding
Lebanon of President Basescu's speech delivered upon arrival
at Bucharest's Henry Coanda Airport is below:


9. (U) Begin embassy's rough partial translation of President
Basescu's July 29 speech:

"...Our position is extremely clear: Romania acknowledges
unequivocally Israel's right to security, a right defended on
behalf of its citizens. I have underscored that Romania is
interested in the evolution of the conflict between Israel
and Hezbollah, because we have a great number of citizens in
Israel, plus their families, with Romanian or Israeli
citizenship.

At this moment, there are discussions at all levels -- inside
NATO structures, inside the UN, or even in the context of
bilateral discussions -- on the possibility of introducing a
military buffer structure in Southern Lebanon. Neither
myself, the chief of the General Staff, nor any other member
of our delegation (who visited the U.S.) ever committed
Romania to participate with troops in such an action. From
our point of view, Romania meets its commitments at the level
established with our foreign partners, be they inside NATO,
inside the EU, or within the framework of bilateral
agreements.

We have to wait first for a decision on Lebanon. We would
prefer a decision of the UNSC, as the organization with
responsibilities in implementing its own resolutions, because
-- as I have underlined in the discussions at all levels in
the U.S. -- the actual situation is the result of the failure
to implement the UNSC resolution 1559 from 2004, in its most
sensitive areas, such as the disarmament of Hezbollah, the
blocking of arms transfers to Southern Lebanon and securing
the control of the whole territory of Lebanon by the Lebanese
government. We think a UNSC resolution should be implemented
and not a solution coming from NATO or other international
structures or organizations.


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In this context, Romania has not yet made any commitment
regarding the structure or type of mission, or the
responsibilities assumed by each country regarding Southern
Lebanon.

A NATO decision would take at least six to seven months to be
enforced, given the decision making process inside NATO. In
our opinion, the organization that can take quick decisions
is the UNSC, which in the past made decisions regarding
Southern Lebanon that have not been implemented, and the
Lebanese government was not supported to implement the
decisions related to the security of Southern Lebanon....

End text of embassy translation.


10. (C) Comment: The center-right Liberal Party's recent
campaign to remove Romanian troops from Iraq appears to have
introduced a measure of caution into Romanian officials'
eagerness to commit troops to peacekeeping operations
overseas. It does not, however, appear to be a decisive
factor. Romanians are cautiously optimistic that they would
participate in an internationally legitimized military buffer
force in Southern Lebanon. The rapidly diminishing MOD
budget, on the other hand, appears to be a major constraining
force on Romania's ability to contribute to peacekeeping
operations. End comment.


11. (U) Amembassy Bucharest's reporting telegrams are
available on the SIPRNet website:
www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/bucharest
Taubman