AUSTRIA ON REACTION TO BELARUS ELECTION

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 VIENNA 000785

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/AGS - VIKMANIS-KELLER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/15/2016
TAGS: PREL KDEM PGOV BO AU EUN
SUBJECT: AUSTRIA ON REACTION TO BELARUS ELECTION

REF: STATE 38953

Classified By: Economic-Political Counselor Gregory E. Phillips. Reaso
ns: 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: During a March 14 meeting, MFA Belarus
expert Josef Litschauer said Austria would issue a
"presidential statement" on the Belarusian elections an hour
after the ODIHR press conference (which will take place at
2:00 pm Minsk time on March 20). Litschauer said there was
no EU consensus for an asset freeze, and said EU banks
already implement stringent due diligence procedures for
accounts in the names of "politically exposed persons."
Expansion of travel restrictions was the measure Litschauer
saw as most likely. However, he said it would be difficult
to win consensus for including Lukashenka's name on the
travel restriction list. The EU already banks official
contacts with Lukashenka, he pointed out. There was
opposition in the EU to other measures, such as revoking
Belarus's GSP status and restricting contacts further. The
travel ban would likely be the EU tool against those who
engage in the use of force in response to peaceful protests.
End summary.


2. (SBU) EconPolCouns delivered reftel demarche on March 14
to Josef Litschauer, the Austrian MFA's DAS-level Deputy
Director for East and Southeast Europe. Litschauer expressed
regret that he could not attend the March 14 meeting in
Vilnius on Belarus. He said that although Austria has never
officially joined the Group of Friends, he tries to attend as
many meetings as he can. However, he is currently the only
officer in the MFA covering his region (his more junior
colleague is on extended sick leave),and he could not travel.

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Presidential Statement March 20
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3. (C) Litschauer said the OSCE's Office for Democratic
Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) planned to hold a press
conference at 2:00 pm Minsk time (1:00 pm CET) on March 20,
the day after the elections. Austria would be in close
contact with the presidency representative in Minsk (Latvia
represents Austria, which has no mission in Belarus),with
OSCE representatives, and others on the ground to collect
elements for a "Presidential statement." Austria planned to
issue this statement at about 3:00 pm Minsk time. In the
days following the election, Austria would coordinate an EU
declaration on behalf of Member States.

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Asset Freeze
--------------


4. (C) Litschauer said there was probably no EU consensus
possible on freezing assets of regime figures. Some member
states were clearly not in favor of such a measure. He
commented as well that it would be difficult to enforce a
freeze, because it was likely that regime figures with
significant assets had already moved them to the Caribbean or
to some other offshore financial destination, and we could
expect them to be active in moving their assets frequently.


5. (C) Concerning reftel point suggesting that Raiffeisen
Central Bank's (RZB) position in Belarus could make it
possible for Austria to gather information on assets that
regime insiders hold in the West, Litschauer argued that
Austrian banks had to follow national and inernational law
and regulation on what they could do with information on
account holders.

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PEP
---


6. (C) Litschauer had consulted with colleagues elsewhere in
the Foreign Ministry and in the Finance Ministry on the issue
of applying heightened due diligence to "Politically Exposed
Persons" (PEP) in Belarus. He said that PEPs such as
President Aleksandr Lukashenka were already subject to
stringent due diligence procedures. Therefore, this is
already in effect.

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Travel Restrictions
--------------


7. (C) Travel restrictions were the most likely step,
Litschauer said. On behalf of the Austrian presidency, the
Latvian mission in Minsk was already collecting names of
those who could appear on a travel restriction list. The
list the Latvians were preparing included local election
commission chairs (the existing list already named the
Central Election Commission chair) and police and security
officials in the units which might respond to protests.


8. (C) Litschauer argued that punitive measures should not
extend to relatives. The responsible officials should be the
targets, not their relatives, he said.


9. (C) It would be difficult to get a consensus in favor of
putting Lukashenka's name on the travel ban list, Litschauer
said. He noted that has been an EU ban on official dealings
with Ministers and above since September 15, 1997. This
naturally included Lukashenka. However, a ban on private
travel of a head of state should be a very last resort, he
argued. He noted that there are no "real" heads of state on
the current EU travel restriction list -- only Igor Smirnoff
of Transnistria.

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Other Measures -- GSP?
--------------


10. (C) The International Labor Organization (ILO) has
suggested that the EU remove Belarus from the Generalized
System of Preferences (GSP) list because of Belarusian
transgressions against worker rights, Litschauer said. The
European Commission has looked into this issue, and can
suggest that the Council make a political decision on this
issue. However, this would clearly hurt the Belarusian
people, Litschauer said -- some 40 percent of Belarusian
exports go to EU countries. Under these circumstances, it
would be difficult to find a majority in favor of removing
Belarus from the GSP list, Litschauer said.

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Contacts
--------------


11. (C) There is a split in the EU between those who want to
restrict contacts with Belarus and those who want to maintain
engagement at some level, Litschauer reported. EU countries
which neighbor Belarus -- Poland, Lithuania and Latvia --
received an exemption from the ban on ministerial contacts
when they entered the EU. These countries argue strongly
that they need to maintain contacts.

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Response to Use of Force
--------------


12. (C) The EU statement of March 9 condemns actions against
opposition campaign activists. Litschauer pointed to the
statement's threat of "further restrictive measures against
the responsible individuals" if the elections do not follow
international standards, saying this refers to travel
restrictions.

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Support for Civil Society
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13. (C) It will be important to encourage Belarusians who
are struggling for democracy, Litschauer said. During a
recent Brussels visit, opposition candidate Aleksandr
Milenkevich recommended three measures if the elections do
not meet international standards. First, he asked that the
EU not recognize the results of the election. Second, he
called for an expansion of the travel restrictions. Third,
he called for creation of a "white list" of Belarusians who
have shown civic courage. Litschauer said the first
recommendation would be hard to implement, and the EU is
already working to implement the second. He said there
should also be a way to implement the last recommendation.
McCaw