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. -------------- Presidential Statement March 20 -------------- ¶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. -------------- 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. --- 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. -------------- 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. -------------- 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. -------------- 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. -------------- 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. -------------- Support for Civil Society -------------- ¶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