ASEM DEMARCHE - ESTONIA HOLDING EU LINE

C O N F I D E N T I A L TALLINN 000695 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/03/2016 TAGS: PGOV PHUM FI BU EN SUBJECT: ASEM DEMARCHE - ESTONIA HOLDING EU LINE REF: STATE 124139 Classified By: DCM Jeff Goldstein for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) (C) As requested reftel, on August 2, Poloff met with Inga Poldma, Acting MFA Director for Asia Affairs, to express the USG's surprise and disappointment in the EU's invitation to the Burmese Foreign Minister to attend the upcoming ASEM Summit in Helsinki. Poldma vigorously defended the Finns, noting that the invitation predated the Finnish Presidency, and was therefore not a Finnish Presidency decision but one agreed upon by all EU members on June 19. Furthermore, she defended the EU's actions by saying that "it is better to have the Burmese present in Helsinki so that a constructive dialogue is possible." She added that Burma's invitation has broad support within the EU. When pressed why an invitation was not issued for a lower level Burmese participant, Poldma was only able to answer that if the matter becomes more controversial, the EU has mechanisms in place to reconsider the Burmese Foreign Minister's participation. WOS