LUXEMBOURG URGED TO INCREASE ITS SUPPORT FOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L LUXEMBOURG 000042 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/23/2017 TAGS: NATO PINS PREL MARR MOPS AF LU SUBJECT: LUXEMBOURG URGED TO INCREASE ITS SUPPORT FOR AFGHANISTAN REF: A. STATE 4834 ¶B. STATE 7434 ¶C. LUXEMBOURG 0012 ¶D. LUXEMBOURG 0029 Classified By: DCM Steven Kraft for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Ambassador Wagner met with Defense Minister Jean-Louis Schiltz January 23 to encourage increased Luxembourg support for Afghanistan. Offering the Minister an overview of U.S. policy in the Middle East including Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, and the Middle East Peace Plan (MEPP),the Ambassador emphasized that all were interrelated and that Luxembourg,s contributions to long-term peace and stability in the region were greatly appreciated. The Ambassador pressed the Minister to find ways to increase Luxembourg,s assistance to Afghanistan in preparation for the January 26 NATO Informal Foreign Ministerial. ¶2. (C) Schiltz acknowledged that the level of Luxembourg,s humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan had dropped off beginning in 2004, but he said that he had moved to return the amount of assistance provided in 2007 to that which was offered in 2003 (roughly 2,000,000 Euros). The Ambassador urged Luxembourg to consider a variety of methods in supporting Afghanistan, including more troops, higher funding levels, and deploying teams of reconstruction specialists from the interior ministry's Civil Protection Unit to work with Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs). She said that Luxembourg might consider using its considerable financial and technical resources in partnership with other nations able to commit more troops. Schiltz said that Luxembourg had tried to recruit skilled professional civilians to serve in Afghanistan, but noted that the effort to attract engineers and other technicians had not been successful. He added that Luxembourg,s recent decision to reform its military would make it easier to train and deploy troops on international missions, though he did not suggest that Luxembourg had plans to increase the number of troops it committed abroad. ¶3. (C) Following the Ambassador,s conversation with Defense Minister Schiltz, the DCM met with the MFA,s Director of Political Affairs, Sylvie Lucas. The DCM noted that the U.S. was pressing all its NATO allies to do more in Afghanistan. Lucas agreed with the U.S. assessment of the need to counter a Taliban offense in the spring, and said Luxembourg was, in fact, exploring other avenues for providing assistance. One such possibility was working through the European Security and Defense Policy (ESPD) to provide police and judicial support to Afghanistan, including doing so through PRTs. Lucas indicated that this idea would likely be further fleshed out at the February GAERC meeting. WAGNER