SPAIN ON UNSCR 1718

C O N F I D E N T I A L MADRID 002672 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/WE, ISN, EAP, AND IO E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/20/2016 TAGS: PREL PARM KNNP KNAR SP SUBJECT: SPAIN ON UNSCR 1718 REF: A. SECSTATE 172816 ¶B. MADRID 2556 Classified By: ESTHOFF Ken Forder per 1.4 (B/D) ¶1. (C) ESTHOFF met with MFA Disarmament Affairs Deputy Director General Ignacio Sanchez September 20 to discuss GOS intentions vis-a-vis the DPRK sanctions regime imposed via UNSCR 1718. Sanchez said that Spain would, of course, implement all the requirements of UNSCR 1718. He said this was in some aspects quite easy, as Spain has virtually no contact with North Korea. There is no direct bilateral trade and there is no North Korean Ambassador resident in Madrid or Spanish Ambassador resident in Pyongyang. Should North Korean activity arrive in Spain, it should be easy to detect, as the DPRK has no legitimate presence to hide behind. Sanchez said that the EU was preparing a consensus position on UNSCR 1718 implementation and that Spain would join that consensus. ¶2. (C) Sanchez said that Spain's only concerns were legal-related. Given Spain's Roman law traditions, UNSCR 1718, like other UNSCRs, pose certain legal challenges for Spain. In general, certain categories of activity in Spain can only be forbidden via law. Thus, it is conceivable that potential DPRK activities in Spain could fall under the UNSCR 1718 sanctions regime but not be specifically sanctionable under current Spanish law. But Sanchez underscored that Spain had experienced similar legal difficulties in implementing aspects of the UN's anti-terrorism agenda but had always found a way to work around such legal complications. He said he was confident that Spain would find the way to halt DPRK activities forbidden under UNSCR 1718 should North Korea discover where Spain is. AGUIRRE