ROMANIA DEMARCHE DELIVERED ON AMENDING THE CUBA

C O N F I D E N T I A L BUCHAREST 001706 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/08/2016 TAGS: CU PHUM PREL RO SUBJECT: ROMANIA DEMARCHE DELIVERED ON AMENDING THE CUBA EMBARGO RESOLUTION REF: A. SECSTATE 184156 ¶B. SECSTATE 182099 Classified By: Political Counselor Ted Tanoue for Reasons 1.4(b) and (d ). ¶1. (C) Deputy Polcons on 8 November delivered demarche on the Cuba Embargo Resolution (ref a) to MFA Director for UN Affairs Petru Dumitriu and Deputy Director Eugen Mihut. Dumitriu said he was "surprised" by the U.S. demarche because the Romanian delegation in New York had not yet reported on the Australian amendment when Polcons made appointment. Dumitriu remarked that the Australian amendment was a good move in light of Romania's own experience from dealing with Cuba. Dumitriu also noted that Cuba in the past would routinely attach amendments to Romanian-sponsored UN resolutions until Romania began attaching its own tit-for-tat amendments to Cuban drafts. For now, Havana and Bucharest have reached an "armistice" on the use of amendments to each others UN drafts, he said. Dumitriu affirmed that Romania would need to coordinate the Romanian response with EU members before he could give a response to the U.S. demarche. He expected that there would be sufficient delay in the voting on the amendment for the EU to consult among the members. Meanwhile Dumitriu expressed appreciation for the U.S. demarche. ¶2. (C) Comment: Interestingly, the Cuban ambassador was departing the MFA while Deputy Polcons was waiting at the ministry's entrance for his escort to Dumitriu's office. Mihut confirmed that the Cuban ambassador had just concluded a meeting with Dumitriu but gave no details. Dumitriu confirmed that he had a call in to the Romanian UN delegation in New York to discuss the amendment to get its account of the sequence of events. Romania even prior to formal EU entry in January 2007 has begun to march in close step with the EU on this matter (and many other issues),and will want to maintain its bona fides by hewing closely to the EU common position. End Comment. Taubman