A/S FRIED'S MEETING WITH SPANISH DG PONS ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MADRID 002203

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/WE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/05/2017
TAGS: PREL SP
SUBJECT: A/S FRIED'S MEETING WITH SPANISH DG PONS ON
MARGINS OF OSCE MADRID MINISTERIAL NOVEMBER 28


Classified By: DCM Hugo Llorens for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY. Assistant Secretary Fried and Spanish
Director General for Europe and North America Pepe Pons met
briefly on November 28 to review OSCE activities and other
bilateral issues. The Spanish received our messages
regarding the need to protect the integrity of the OSCE and
its institutions, particularly ODIHR, in the face of
destructive proposals. Pons described strong support among
OSCE members for the U.S. position on CFE. With regard to
Kosovo, Pons believed the Russian delegation might agreed to
a month by month renewal option. Pons pitched the Spanish
view that future OSCE management required a stronger
organizational structure to deal with the complexities of the
diverse group. END SUMMARY.

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CFE
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2. (C) On CFE, Pons described strong support for the U.S.
position among most OSCE members despite rhetoric from Russia
that our position held no merit. Pons characterized
Russia,s presentation as "shrill" and reiterated Spain's
intention as OSCE Chair to continue working toward a
solution. Fried expressed his disappointment that CFE was
not moving forward at this time, adding that since the
Russians chose not to follow-up on new proposals, they held
responsibility for putting the control regime at risk.


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OHDIR
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3. (C) With the current OHDIR drafts in opposition, Pons
said the OSCE Chair's strategy was to prepare a third
document the night of November 28. The new draft would be
based on PrepComm discussions. Fried reminded Pons that the
Russians called the OSCE a vulgar organization and said that
the Russian draft was so far out of line that this was not a
time to develop a half-way compromise. The OSCE should
create a new text and take a principled stand supporting the
work of OHDIR. Fried recounted a conversation with ODIHR
director, Ambassador Christian Strohal, in which he said that
ODIHR should make its determinations based on merit, not on
political expediencies. Fried also noted that with
Kazakhstan issuing public support for the Russian draft, it
would be very difficult for the U.S. to support Kazakhstan's
bid for the OSCE Chairmanship. The U.S. might have to accept
criticism for allowing a dictatorship with a troubling human
rights record to assume the OSCE chair, but it was
unacceptable to sacrifice the integrity of ODIHR if
Kazakhstan did not unequivocally alter their current stance.

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OSCE CHAIRMANSHIP
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4. (C) With regard to a future Kazakhstan OSCE
Chairmanship, Fried related U/S Burns conversation with
Kazakh Minister Marat Tazhin November 27 that expressed our
view that they needed to break with the Russian ODIHR draft.
Pons inquired if the Kazakh letter to the OSCE could be seen
as backing away from the Russian position, and Fried said the
letter was very weak and did not even use the term ODIHR.
When Pons replied that it was unrealistic to believe that the
Kazakhs could make a public retraction, Fried countered that
Kazahstan must at least make very strong statements of
support for ODIHR. In addition, there should be Kazakh
pledges that they would do nothing in the future to weaken
the organization. Pons agreed that the Kazakhs had not
helped advance their candidacy and noted that Spain had asked
to be consulted but only received one hour's notice before
the Kazakhs went public with their announcement.

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KOSOVO
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5. (C) Pons said that it could be possible to get a
statement on Kosovo if the U.S. and Russian delegations did
not insist on including their bracketed language. After
reviewing the texts, Fried said that the U.S. could agree not
to put in bracketed text if Russia also agreed. However,
Fried emphasized, it was important to be clear about mandate
renewal. Pons said renewal was not possible at this time,
but that the Russians might consider a month to month renewal
option. Fried offered that the U.S. could accept language
that "headed in the direction" of renewal and noted that the

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U.S. preferred to use the term "coordinated" process of
declaration instead of the alternate "unilateral" process of
declaration.

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OSCE MANAGEMENT AND STRUCTURE
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6. (C) Pons pitched the Spanish view that future OSCE
management required a stronger organizational structure to
deal with the complexities of the diverse group. Fried
responded that the CSCE managed to accomplish all of its
objectives while acknowledging that it was a smaller
bureaucracy. Agreeing on the need for OSCE reform, Fried
said reform needed to bring strength and improvement, not the
static, obstructive "reforms" proposed by the Russian
delegation. Fried also called for Spanish leadership to
ensure that, if a final text could not be negotiated, a
shared statement outlining key principles might result as a
solution.


7. (U) Meeting Participants with Assistant Secretary Fried
and Director General Pons:

Spanish Ambassador to the OSCE Task Force - Jose Angel Lopez
Jorrin
Embassy Madrid Charge Hugo Llorens
USOSCE Gary Robbins
USOSCE John Underriner
USOSCE John Van Dreal
Embassy Notetaker Elizabeth Fritschle



8. (U) This cable was cleared by A/S Fried's staff.
AGUIRRE