ROMANIA: G8 COUNTER-TERRORISM ACTION GROUP

C O N F I D E N T I A L BUCHAREST 000660

SIPDIS

NOFORN
SIPDIS

STATE DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/NCE - WSILKWORTH

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/20/2016
TAGS: KCRM PGOV PREL PTER SOCI RO
SUBJECT: ROMANIA: G8 COUNTER-TERRORISM ACTION GROUP
DISCUSSES DIALOGUE WITH ISLAM, ORGANIZED CRIME, BORDER
SECURITY

REF: A. SECSTATE 58471


B. BUCHAREST 618

Classified By: CDA Mark Taplin for Reasons (b),(c) and (d)


1. (C) Summary. During the recent Russian Embassy-hosted
G8 Counter-terrorism Action Group (CTAG) meeting (Ref A),
participants agreed upon the importance of dialogue and
exchange with moderate Muslims but acknowledged that their
Embassies had not engaged in such efforts. Several
participants discussed the nexus between organized crime
networks and terrorism, with one diplomat decrying Romania's
well-organized and politically connected "silent Mafia". End
Summary.

Dialogue with Islam
--------------

2. (SBU) PolMilOff and PolOffs participated in the Russian
Embassy-hosted G8 Counter-terrorism Action Group Meeting
April 14. (Ref A) Representatives from the European Union
(EU) Delegation of the European Commission, France, Germany,
Italy, and Japan also attended but, perhaps because the
Russian Embassy organized the meeting on Friday afternoon
before (Western) Easter, representatives from the Embassies
of Canada, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom did not
attend the meeting.


3. (C/NF) Further to Ref A, PolOffs underscored the
importance of encouraging interfaith dialogue and the
importance of dialogue with moderate Muslims. We also
provided a general overview of the Embassy's attempts to
reach out to Romania's indigenous and immigrant Islamic
communities. EU Counselor Onno Simons expressed appreciation
for the Embassy's efforts to increase dialogue with Romania's
Islamic communities, and candidly acknowledged that the EU
Delegation in Romania had no outreach program aimed at
Muslims. The other Western European participants offered
similar views, posing questions to EmbOffs about Romania's
diverse Islamic communities that belied the absence of even
rudimentary knowledge of the subject. Although the Russians
launched the discussion on Islam, apparently reading from a
prepared text, they did not participate substantively in this
portion (or other aspects) of the discussion.

Romania's Silent Mafia?
--------------

4. (C) Responding, in part, to observations from EmbOffs
regarding the nexus between organized crime networks and
terrorism, EU Counselor Simons underscored that battling
trafficking in persons (TIP),providing training and
technical assistance to the Romanian border police and
assisting Romania to battle financial crimes including money
laundering are among the EU's top priorities in Romania.
German Embassy PolCouns Hans-Peter Schneider stressed that
Germany, like the U.S., strongly supports the Southeastern
Europe Cooperative Initiative (SECI) and the Bucharest-based
SECI Center. The other participants focused on bilateral and
multilateral efforts to bolster border security.


5. (C/NF) Specifically addressing risks posed by organized
crime, the EU Counselor proposed that the "Mafia" plays a
pernicious and frequently sub rosa role in Romania. Noting
the absence of press or police reports about gangland
killings, he suggested that Romanian organized crime "may be
so well organized they don't need to shoot each other." He
conceded that the EU had no specific information to share on
this point, opining that organized crime groups Romania "stay
below the radar" and frequently collude with government
officials. He observed that some sources had alleged that a
"deal" existed between "certain Arab groups" and the Romanian
government: "let us launder money (in Romania) and we won't
attack" Romanian targets. Later in the dialogue, he stated
that PKK "operations are financed by illegal operations in
Romania." (Comment: During the meeting, Simons acknowledged
that he lacked hard data for many of his assertions,
suggesting in an aside "perhaps our U.S. colleagues have more


information." Simons is known in the Bucharest diplomatic
community as one of the more skeptical voices regarding
Romania's progress toward full EU membership. Indeed, at one
point during the meeting, when he observed that Romania was
headed toward EU accession, a Western European diplomat
interrupted Simons, interjecting that Romania would accede
"soon." End Comment.)


6. (C/NF) French Attache for Internal Security Colonel
Laurent Demolins observed that Romania's "good laws" are
frequently not matched by "good enforcement." Other Western
European participants endorsed this point, including the EU's
Simons who rhetorically queried, "Is legislation being
implemented? That's the key". Some participants noted that
Romanian attempts to combat problems, such as smuggling,
suffer from insufficient resources. Simons cited one case in
which the EU had provided patrol boats to Romania but "lack
of petrol" limited the number of actual patrols.


7. (C/NF) Demolins observed that Romanian border controls
seem to adequately monitor the flow of citizens from Romania
to the EU. However, he queried, "Do arms from Transnistria
pass through Moldova into Romania?" The Russians remained
silent. Demolins criticized the lack of effective
cooperation among Romania's intelligence services, commenting
that Romania may have "too many 'services' which concern
themselves with intelligence and counter-terrorism."


8. (C/NF) Comment. Two of the Western European diplomats
remarked wryly to us after the confab that the Russian hosts
had read entirely from a script throughout the meeting and
did not contribute to the dialogue beyond posing an
occasional question to clarify a point made by another
interlocutor. Embassy will continue efforts to engage in
substantive dialogue with Romania's moderate Islamic
community (Ref A). Indeed, Embassy Officers regularly meet
with Muslim leaders; Romania's Mufti has agreed to
participate in an International Visitors Program; and,
several Muslim leaders attended an April PD-hosted seminar
and workshop on Romania's draft Religion Law. (Ref B)
Although other diplomatic missions in Bucharest from
countries with large Islamic populations, notably the Turkish
Embassy, maintain a regular dialogue with Muslim leaders (Ref
B),one positive outcome of the meeting may have been to
sensitize Western European and Japanese participants to the
importance of dialogue with moderate Muslims -- and the
growing role of Islam in Romania. End Comment.


9. (U) AmEmbassy Bucharest's reporting telegrams are
available on the Bucharest SIPRNet website:
www.state.sgov.gov/eur/Bucharest
TAPLIN