AUSTRIAN REACTION: POSSIBLE E.O. DESIGNATION OF

S E C R E T VIENNA 001647 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/20/2017 TAGS: PARM PREL ETTC AU SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN REACTION: POSSIBLE E.O. DESIGNATION OF DANIEL FROSCH AND ASSOCIATED INDIVIDUALS REF: A) 06/05/07 FOLEY/NELSON EMAIL B) STATE 68409 Classified By: Acting Economic-Political Counselor Phillip R. Nelson for reasons 1.4 (b),(c),and (d). ¶1. (S) Acting EconPol Counselor met on June 12 with Helmut Krehlik, Head of the Ministry of Economy's (MoE) Import and Export Division to present ref B points. According to Krehlik, the public prosecutor will soon charge Daniel Frosch under Article 37 of Austria's Foreign Trade Act (FTA) with failing to apply for an export license for a dual-use item. Krehlik noted that Austrian authorities had only uncovered one instance when Frosch had failed to apply for a license. Frosch would undoubtedly argue that this was an oversight on his part, not a pattern. In Krehlik's view, the case against Frosch was weak. ¶2. (S) Krehlik expressed frustration that the prosecutor had dropped the more serious charge of WMD proliferation under Article 177a of the FTA. Krehlik said there had been a technical, interagency debate in the Austrian Government on what constituted "Kampfmittel" -- war material. Specifically, the debate centered on whether or not the delivery system for a weapon was covered under Article 177a of the FTA. The MoE and the Austrian intelligence service (BVT) argued that academic opinion clearly included delivery systems in the definition of war material. However, the Ministry of Justice rejected this line of reasoning. To close this loophole, the MoJ requested that the MoE and BVT present amendments to the FTA, which would clearly include delivery systems within the definition of war material. ¶3. (S) Krehlik confided that informal requests to extradite Frosch from the UAE had not been successful. Krehlik speculated that certain obtuse power centers in the UAE were protecting Frosch. Krehlik opined that vested interests in the UAE would not want to jeopardize the country's lucrative position as a "go-between" for Iranian trade. As to formal extradition possibilities, Krehlik noted that there was only a European arrest warrant for Frosch, not an international warrant. (Note: There is no Austrian-UAE extradition treaty or agreement. End Note.) ¶4. (S) Krehlik recommended that requests for biographic data (ref B) should come from law enforcement and intelligence channels. Post is utilizing this approach to obtain the data and will forward to the Department, as soon as we receive it. Kilner