SPAIN APPRECIATIVE OF MISSILE DEFENSE BRIEFING

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MADRID 000686 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/NCE; EUR/PRA - MAZEVEDO; EUR/PPD - TCORN; AND VCI/MDSP - STEVEN ROSENKRANTZ NSC FOR MAHAYWARD E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/12/2017 TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR SP SUBJECT: SPAIN APPRECIATIVE OF MISSILE DEFENSE BRIEFING REF: SECSTATE 30480 Classified By: DCM Hugo Llorens for reasons 1.4 (b) & (d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: As part of ongoing USG efforts to engage the Spanish government on missile defense, Missile Defense Agency deputy director Brigadier General Patrick O'Reilly met with MOD and MFA officials, as well as opinion leaders and an influential opposition member of Parliament, on March 30. All of them asked pointed questions but indicated that they very much appreciate USG efforts to explain it to them in detail. Separately, MFA DG for Europe and North America Pons told DCM on March 29 that Spain will not be a problem on missile defense and sees it as positive step that President Bush spoke with Russian President Putin on the issue. However, neither MOD nor MFA interlocutors during the briefing clearly expressed support for the plan. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) MOD DG for Policy Major General Benito Raggio told O'Reilly that Spain has paid close attention to the information that the US has provided at NATO and has an interest in missile defense (MD) issues based on its NATO membership and proximity to the Middle East and North Africa. He said that MOD and MFA have created an interagency team to coordinate GOS policy on the issue. Raggio said that Spain has a different perception of the threats; he did not, however, suggest that the US MD initiative was an inappropriate response. He questioned whether the MD system as planned would fully cover Spain, including the Canary Islands off the west African coast, and asked about the relationship between the US proposal and NATO's MD initiative. O'Reilly assured Raggio that the US MD initiative would cover all of Spain from the threats in Iran or North Korea while pointing out that nearer threats would require different national or regional solutions. He also explained that the proposed system would share information with NATO systems, and said that the US would pay all costs associated with the proposal. ¶3. (C) MFA deputy DG for NATO Pablo Guiterrez Segu, participating in the meeting at MOD, emphasized that Spain sees the US interests in pursuing this plan, but asked the US to continue coordinating closely with both NATO Allies and Russia. He said that the GOS would not want to raise divisions in Europe over the plan as had taken place in the past over INF. O'Reilly made clear that the plan was not offensive and did not involve nuclear missiles. Guiterrez Segu that with complex Russian internal politics and differing national interests among the Allies, it is important that the US continue to be attentive to the reactions and concerns of all interested parties. ¶4. (C) A representative of MOD DG for armaments and munitions asked about testing of the system and data sharing. O'Reilly told him that the US conducts tests several times each year, and that there is a standing invitation for Allies to watch the tests. He also said that the US would share the missile defense system's data by giving allies access to situational awareness terminals that would allow them to see everything that the US could see. MOD deputy DG for plans Admiral Enrique Perez Ramirez asked why current systems do not provide sufficient deterrent, about the political decision-making process if the system were to be used, and whether Spain would truly be covered by the system, lying as it does near an outer boundary of the coverage area. O'Reilly said that the current systems provide deterrent against Cold War era threats, and that this system is needed to address modern threats. He said that the Allies who contribute to the system would be involved in its design but emphasized that as a defensive system there would be no political decision-making involved in a launch decision - the system would automatically attack any launch detected within the defended area. Finally, O'Reilly said that Spain would be fully covered if it wanted to be. ¶5. (C) In a separate meeting, opposition Popular Party (PP) foreign affairs spokesman Gustavo Aristegui expressed full and enthusiastic support for the plan. He said that after Spain's May 27 local and regional elections, he would recommend to PP leader Mariano Rajoy that the PP publicly support the plan. Aristegui also said that he would work with like-minded European Parliament members to try to help there. ¶6. (C) During a roundtable with thinktank and academic experts on security issues, which also included a member of MADRID 00000686 002 OF 002 the Deputy Defense Minister's staff, O'Reilly provided the same information that he had presented to the GOS. The participants asked about the effect of this system on conventional non-proliferation efforts, which O'Reilly answered by saying that this system provides a different deterrent against a different type of threat. They also asked whether the system was really a move against China, to which O'Reilly replied that the system is focused on particular threats outside of China. ¶7. (C) In a side conversation at a private dinner, MFA DG Pons told DCM on March 29 that he appreciates O'Reilly's visit and apologized that no one of an appropriate level was available at MFA to meet with him. (After some debate, the MFA has decided that the Missile Defense issue will be handled by the Director General for NATO and International Organizations, who was recovering from surgery during the time of the visit and was represented by one of his deputies at the meeting at MOD). Pons said that Spain will not be a problem on missile defense and sees it as positive step that President Bush spoke with Russian President Putin on the issue. ¶8. (C) COMMENT: Within NATO, the Spanish can be expected to defer to the Germans on this issue and will not, as Pons said, be problematic. However, none of our GOS interlocutors expressed outright support for the plan, though the level of detail provided by the MDA team seemed to help allay some -- though not all -- skepticism about it. The GOS remains sensitive to Russian reaction, as it wants to improve ties with Russia and to maintain open communication with Moscow during Spain's chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. ¶9. (U) BG O'Reilly cleared this cable. Aguirre