DEFENDING ODIHR ELECTION MONITORING

C O N F I D E N T I A L WARSAW 000341 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/28/2016 TAGS: PREL PHUM BE BY PL OSCE SUBJECT: DEFENDING ODIHR ELECTION MONITORING REF: STATE 30975 Classified By: Political Counselor Mary Curtin, reasons 1.4b,d ¶1. (C) Polish MFA Deputy Director for Security Policy (OSCE Affairs) Marek Ziolkowski assured us February 28 that the Polish government shares our concerns about Belgian FM (and OSCE Chairman-in-Office) De Gucht's proposal to send his own representatives to observe the elections monitoring process in Belarus. Ziolkowski indicated that the Polish government will make clear to the Belgians that extraordinary monitoring of ODIHR is unwarranted and potentially harmful, noting that he could testify personally to the OSCE's exceptional record in Ukraine, where he served as Polish ambassador during the Orange Revolution. Such attacks on ODIHR, he maintained, are purely politically motivated and have no basis in fact. Ziolkowski pledged that he would press this issue during his consultations with EU officials in Brussels later in the week. ¶2. (C) Additionally, Ziolkowski suggested that the Belgians and others in Western Europe should be reminded that Russia and other "eastern" OSCE critics do not represent the views of even the entire CIS. He proposed, for example, that the Ukrainians and Georgians be encouraged to abandon their traditional silence and raise their voices in defense of the OSCE. ASHE