DEMARCHE TO AUSTRIA ON BELARUS TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 VIENNA 000892

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR - KRAMER AND EUR/AGS - VIKMANIS-KELLER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/24/2016
TAGS: PREL PHUM CVIS BO AU EUN
SUBJECT: DEMARCHE TO AUSTRIA ON BELARUS TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS

REF: A. STATE 46976


B. VIENNA 785

Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Scott F. Kilner. Reason: 1.4 (
b) and (d).


1. (SBU) EconPolCouns delivered ref (a) demarche on March 24
to Josef Litschauer, the MFA's DAS-level Director for Eastern
Europe. (Note: Political Director Thomas Mayr-Harting was
not in Vienna. Ambassador will press these points on March
27 and 28 in meetings with the Chancellor's Diplomatic
Advisor and to the MFA's Secretary General. End note.)

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Expanding the Travel Ban ...
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2. (C) Litschauer said the EU and U.S. are in full agreement
that there should be an expansion of travel restrictions. He
said the EU and U.S. had already shared their lists with each
other, and there is substantial agreement on names. He
suggested that there might be a benefit to starting with a
subset of the 147 names on the U.S. list, and including new
categories to target over time in order to increase the
pressure. At the same time, he noted the practical
considerations that could slow the implementation of a travel
ban on all of the people on our list. We had sufficient
information on some entries to permit border agencies to
apply a workable ban. However, in many cases, at the moment
we only had scant information, such as a family name. More
broadly, the travel ban would require approval at EU
ministerial level. The next EU ministerial meeting will be
on April 10, which does not leave much time fully to complete
preparations. We noted, and he readily agreed, that the key
was to win political consensus on the measure. If the
political will existed to proceed, then we could work out the
details.

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... to Include Lukashenko?
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3. (C) We stressed the importance of including Lukashenko on
the travel ban list, emphasizing that there was sentiment in
the EU for doing so. We called on Austria to take the lead
in winning agreement on this issue. Litschauer said
Lukashenko's name was already on the list the 11 EU Chiefs of
Mission in Minsk had prepared. (Note: Latvia represents the
Austrian Presidency in Minsk. End note.) Litschauer said he
was certain Ministers would consider this point in detail.
While he was not in a position to commit Austria to pursuing
this goal, neither did he close the door on adding Lukashenko
to the list. We stressed that "leadership" in this case
meant more than simply finding agreement, but rather
championing the best position, which would be to extend the
travel ban to Lukashenko. We said we would continue to press
this point with political levels in the Austrian government.

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"Legitimacy" Not an Issue
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4. (C) Litschauer agreed fully with our position that the
question of a travel ban on Lukashenko had nothing to do with
the nature of foreign representation in Minsk. The two
issues "have nothing to do with each other."

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Family Members a Bridge Too Far -- Unless?
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5. (C) Litschauer said there was no support in the EU for
extending travel restrictions to family members. "We don't
believe in clan punishment," he said. We countered that many
family members themselves held government positions.
Litschauer readily agreed that such people could in their own
right be subject to the travel ban.

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Financial Sanctions on Another Track
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6. (C) Litschauer reported that the March 22 conference call
had included a discussion of freezing assets of regime
officials. He said the U.S. side had indicated that posts
would receive instructions for further discussions with
Finance Ministries.
McCaw