C O N F I D E N T I A L WARSAW 002425

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/19/2011
TAGS: PREL MARR MOPS NATO PL AF
SUBJECT: POLAND STEADFAST ON NATO'S PROMISE TO AFGHANISTAN

REF: STATE 186256

Classified By: DCM Kenneth M. Hillas, reasons 1.4(b) and (d)


1. (C) Charge and Pol External Chief delivered reftel points
November 17 to Robert Kupiecki, Director of MFA Security
Policy Department. Charge stressed U.S. appreciation for
Poland's exemplary commitment to ISAF and OEF, both through
its planned deployment of 1200 troops in early 2007 and for
its lack of caveats.


2. (C) Kupiecki indicated that Poland was taking a very
active approach on Afghanistan in the NATO context. The
draft of President Lech Kaczynski's speech at the Riga Summit
was entirely consistent with the U.S. approach, stressing the
importance to NATO of success in Afghanistan. Poland was
also lobbying actively within the EU for increased troop
contributions and an end to caveats. The GOP had pushed the
Czechs, Slovaks and Hungarians in V-4 consultations, but none
of the three planned any troop increases.


3. (C) Similarly, the German government was not planning
either increases to its ISAF contingent nor a change to its
current caveats on its use, Kupiecki said. However, the
Germans were planning to push for increased EU engagement in
Afghanistan during the January-June 2007 German EU
Presidency. The Germans planned to focus on police and
judicial training, drawing on successful EU experience in the
Balkans. According to Kupiecki, the Germans also hoped for
significant EU-U.S. cooperation in this area, again based on
the Balkan model.


4. (C) Kupiecki said that the GOP was making interagency
preparations for an EU request for police trainers. Poland
had significant expertise and experience, but the GOP was
somewhat concerned that EU police missions in Kosovo and
elsewhere in the Balkans was putting a strain not only on
Polish capabilities but also on those of other EU member
states. The German presidency and the EU would have to work
to resolve the conflicting priorities of the existing Kosovo
mission and the prospective Afghanistan deployment.


5. (C) COMMENT. Poland remains strongly committed to the
success of Afghanistan mission at the highest levels. Both
President Lech Kaczynski and PM Jarek Kaczynski have given
the mission their full support, and DefMin Radek Sikorski has
a personal stake based on his experience as a British
journalist in Afghanistan in the 1980s. The Poles can be
counted on not only to set an example but also to lobby other
NATO members. END COMMENT.
ASHE