AUSTRIA ON THE JANUARY 22-23 EU FOREIGN MINISTERS

UNCLAS VIENNA 000123

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/ERA -- LABARGE AND EUR/AGS -- SAINT ANDRE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV ENRG EAID MARR EUN AU
SUBJECT: AUSTRIA ON THE JANUARY 22-23 EU FOREIGN MINISTERS
MEETING (GAERC)

REF: A. STATE 5256


B. STATE 5640


1. (SBU) EconPolCouns delivered reftel demarches on general
GAERC topics and on the external energy policy on January 19
to Austrian MFA European Correspondent Andreas Riecken.


2. (SBU) Riecken made the following substantive comments:

-- Western Balkans/Kosovo: Riecken said Austria agrees that
the U.S. and EU had to maintain a common stance in support of
UN Special Envoy Ahtisaari's efforts. In addition to the
points we raised, he noted that even after a UN Security
Council resolution on Kosovo, there would be a need to ensure
that the U.S. and EU supported a common interpretation of the
text. He added that much would depend on the results of the
Serbian elections on January 21. Kostunica could turn in
several different ways to form a government, he noted.
Serbian President Boris Tadic had recently told Austrian
Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik that the "polls look good."

-- Western Balkans/Serbia, Montenegro: Council conclusions
will circulate on Monday on the results of the Serbian
elections, Riecken said, but there will otherwise be no
discussion of Serbia. There will be a "technical" set of
Council conclusions to apply the partnership agreement with
Serbia-Montenegro to the newly independent Montenegro, he
added.

-- Israeli-Palestinian Issues: The "Middle East Peace
Process" will be a topic during the luncheon discussion,
Riecken said. High Representative Javier Solana will
probably report the results of his visit to the region.

-- Iran: This will be a topic in a "restricted session"
involving Ambassadors and senior advisors, Riecken said.
There is broad agreement on the need to ensure implementation
of UNSCR 1737, although, Riecken said, there was a discussion
underway as to what constituted "full" implementation.
Riecken explained that some EU member states supported draft
EU regulations that would stick to the letter of the
admittedly vague language of the resolution, while others
called for regulations that would interpret and expand on
that language.

-- Somalia: There is a general feeling that the EU should
support the African Union in mounting an operation in
Somalia, Riecken said. One idea was to reprogram some 15
million Euros for this purpose. However, it was clear that
this was insufficient -- in Sudan, AMIS had cost 240 million
Euros. In addition, EU members had the view that funding
should not be unconditional, but should instead have links to
reforms on the ground.


3. (SBU) Two other items were on the agenda, Riecken said:

-- Libya/Bulgarian Nurses: Bulgaria had requested a short
discussion of this issue.

-- Death Penalty: Italy wanted to discuss ways in the UN
context to promote a moratorium on the death penalty.
Kilner