SPAIN: GOS POSITION ON PHARE ASSISTANCE TO TURKISH

C O N F I D E N T I A L MADRID 001908 SIPDIS SIPDIS EUR/ERA FOR JOHN ROBINSON E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/27/2016 TAGS: PREL EAID LH EUN CY SP SUBJECT: SPAIN: GOS POSITION ON PHARE ASSISTANCE TO TURKISH CYPRIOTS REF: STATE 115693 Classified By: Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Kathy Fitzpatrick for rea sons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (U) Poloff delivered reftel demarche to GOS European Correspondent Carlos Fernandez Arias on July 18 and Jose Luis Pardo, an official in the Subdirectorate General for General Affairs, on July 27. ¶2. (C) Fernandez Arias told Poloff that the Cyprus reintegration is coming to a head and represents a very delicate problem for the EU and Turkey. However, he deferred to the Subdirectorate of General Affairs on the specifics of the vote. Pardo told Emboff that Spain's July 2 abstention was a technical abstention because Cyprus requested to postpone the vote. Nevertheless, he said that Spain will vote in favor of the disbursement of funds as soon as possible. He did not expect that the issue could be addressed before September due to the impending August vacation season in Europe. Poloff underscored USG's concern that this might not allow for all the funds to be disbursed before the end of the calendar year. Pardo said it was his understanding that it would still be possible, but he noted that Cyprus is tied into several other issues at present, most notably Turkey's admission and the evacuation of Lebanon. ****************************************** Visit Embassy Madrid's Classified Website; http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/madrid/ ****************************************** AGUIRRE