POST-PALESTINIAN ELECTION: NORWAY SEEKING TO ENGAGE

C O N F I D E N T I A L OSLO 000095

SIPDIS


NEA FOR A/S WELCH, DAS DIBBLE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/27/2016
TAGS: PREL IS NO
SUBJECT: POST-PALESTINIAN ELECTION: NORWAY SEEKING TO ENGAGE


Classified By: Ambassador Benson K. Whitney, Reason 1.4 b and d.


1. (C) Meeting in Oslo, Foreign Minister Jonas Stoere told
A/S Dan Fried on January 27 that he plans to speak with Abbas
later today and tell him that he is sending his number two,
Deputy Foreign Minister Raymond Johansen, to visit with him
next week (date unspecified). Stoere wanted to make sure we
knew he was doing this in case there were messages we wanted
passed to Abbas. A/S Fried referred to the Secretary's
remarks calling on Hamas to renounce violence, turn away from
terrorism, and accept the right of Israel to exist. (Note:
The FM did not explicitly mention meeting with Hamas, but he
strongly suggested Johansen will try to meet with "emerging"
leaders. End note)


2. (C) Stoere went on to explain that as Chair of the AHLC,
and as the PA is one of the largest recipients of Norwegian
aid, he wants to engage in the wake of the elections to try
to steer the new government in the right direction. Stoere
agrees fully with us that Hamas must renounce violence and
accept Israel. Stoere said his assessment is that the
situation is chaotic, that Hamas "is shell-shocked" and did
not expect to win, and that there is an opportunity to
deliver a message.


3. (C) Norway, for its part, wants to ensure that if it
continues to provide assistance, that it go through
uncorrupted channels. Stoere said that aid could be
conditional. "Hamas must now run the very institutions it
has opposed," commented Stoere, and they must understand that
they need to respect the Road Map. Stoere remarked that the
PLO was once a terrorist organization and see how they
transformed, clearly hoping the same will be true with Hamas.


4. (C) Comment: We have been sensing that Stoltenberg's
government has been itching to re-engage in a serious way in
the Middle East peace process and now sees the post-election
chaos as an opportunity for it to get involved given its
considerable assistance to the Palestinians. The Stoltenberg
government's foreign policy mantra, with FM Jonas Stoere
leading the charge, is to (re)establish Norway as a leader in
peace mediation efforts. Hence, the continuing efforts in
Sudan, Sri Lanka and also the decisions to move away from the
EU's terror designation list and to no longer invite Cuban
dissidents to Norway's National day reception in Havana.
With reference to the EU list, Norway believes it gains
greater flexibility to engage with groups if it is not
designating them as terrorist organizations (although it will
follow UN designations); in the case of Cuba, it thinks it
can have a "critical dialogue" with the Castro regime while
still planning to support dissident groups the "other 364
days of the year." The Norwegians are keenly aware of our
concerns on Cuba and have told us they would welcome our
input on how they can make sure to signal to the dissidents
that they continue to have Norway's support.


5. (U) A/S Fried cleared this message.
Visit Oslo's Classified website:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/oslo/index.cf m

WHITNEY


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