PORTUGAL'S VIEWS ON FEBRUARY EU FOREIGN MINISTERS'

C O N F I D E N T I A L LISBON 000369

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/09/2017
TAGS: PREL EU PO
SUBJECT: PORTUGAL'S VIEWS ON FEBRUARY EU FOREIGN MINISTERS'
MEETING (GAERC)

REF: A. STATE 13840


B. STATE 16453

C. LISBON 356

Classified By: Dana M. Brown, Pol-Econ Officer, Embassy Lisbon
Reason 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (U) On February 8, MFA Deputy EU Correspondent Ana
Filomena Rocha responded to the Ref A demarche points by
offering Portugal's views on the Balkans, Middle East, and
African policies.


2. (C) BALKANS - Rocha saw this as the most important area
for discussion since it would be the first opportunity for
the foreign ministers to respond to Ahtisaari's report.
Portugal recognizes that many member states have reservations
about the draft agreement, but believes it is better to move
forward with Ahtisaari's proposals rather than wait for the
perfect final agreement. Regarding Serbia, Portugal
continues to push for speedy reform, and cooperation with the
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
(ICTY).


3. (C) ISRAEL - Since the Mecca discussions were still
underway at the time of the demarche, Rocha could only
speculate on Portugal's response. Nevertheless, she opined
that EU would likely be divided over whether to engage with
the new coalition government if it accepted some, but not
all, of the three conditions required by the international
community cited in Ref B. She speculated that Portugal would
probably be willing to support EU dialogue with the
Palestinians even without a commitment to all three
conditions as a sign of EU flexibility. (NOTE: Now that we
have a concrete readout of the negotiations, we will approach
the MFA for its official position on this matter. End note.)


4. (C) IRAN - Portugal supports Germany's approach to
separate the nuclear issue from other political concerns and
would like to work with civil society to improve the human
rights situation in Iran. However, Rocha was pessimistic
that Iran would be willing to treat the issues separately.
She offered the example of the Economic and Financial Council
(ECOFIN) plans to impose a visa ban and economic restrictions
that go beyond the scope of UN Resolution 1737 on February
19, which will probably prompt Iran to withdraw from
discussions with the EU.


5. (C) AFGHANISTAN - Portugal is not in a position to
contribute to the EU's police training mission in
Afghanistan. According to Rocha, Portugal is concerned by
the fact-finding mission report that indicated a serious lack
of infrastructure on the ground. In keeping with what we
heard from the Director for Disarmament and Security Affairs
Joao Corte-Real (Ref C),Rocha noted that Portugal is
committed to maintaining its current deployment to ISAF but
does not have the resources to expand its commitment.


6. (C) SUDAN - As the EU funding for the mission in Darfur
runs out, Rocha mentioned two possibilities for future
funding. One option would be to disburse unused Asia
Caribbean Pacific (ACP) funds to pay for the mission, but
Rocha noted that the ACP Council will not have another
meeting until May, and even if the Council approves, the
funding is not sustainable. Another possibility would be to
have nations give bilateral funding to Sudan; the UK,
Denmark, and the Netherlands have reportedly offered to make
such donations with the EU Commission's oversight. However,
Rocha expressed concern that bilateral funding would be
sending "good money after bad" given the current Sudanese
government response.


7. (C) SOMALIA - Rocha reiterated her concerns about the
deteriorating situation in Somalia and stated that, at this
time, Portugal is attempting to avoid repeating the mistakes
made in Sudan. She stressed that the Portuguese want to see
a full proposal and a realistic timeline for assistance
projects from the African Union before releasing any funds
for these humanitarian efforts.
Hoffman