NETHERLANDS/CFE: DUTCH ADAPTED CFE RATIFICATION

C O N F I D E N T I A L THE HAGUE 001525 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/20/2017 TAGS: PARM PREL KFCE NATO NL SUBJECT: NETHERLANDS/CFE: DUTCH ADAPTED CFE RATIFICATION POSSIBLE BY SUMMER 2008 REF: SECSTATE 116194 Classified By: Andrew Schofer, Charge D'Affaires, for reasons 1.4(b) an d (d) ¶1. (C) On August 21, Vincent van Zeijst, Deputy Head of the Arms Control and Arms Export Policy Division at the MFA, told poloff that ratification of the Adapted CFE by summer 2008 would be "ambitious but not impossible." Discussing reftel points, Van Zeijst noted that such a timeline would usually be difficult because the treaty must be approved by two chambers of parliament and the State Council. However, FM Verhagen would likely push for priority treatment of the treaty by the legislature, given that the CFE is a "cornerstone" of Dutch security policy. Van Zeijst promised to give a formal response to reftel points through the Netherlands' NATO delegation prior to the September 13 HLTF meeting. ¶2. (C) Van Zeijst noted that this spring the United States had rejected a similar, Dutch proposal for parallel action timeline on the Istanbul commitments and CFE ratification. He advised starting the ratification process in all countries this fall, given the different ratification timelines for each country. Schofer