AUSTRIA ON AFGHANISTAN AT THE JANUARY 26 INFORMAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L VIENNA 000180

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/RPM AND EUR/AGS - SAINT-ANDRE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/24/2017
TAGS: NATO PINS PREL MARR MOPS AF PK AU
SUBJECT: AUSTRIA ON AFGHANISTAN AT THE JANUARY 26 INFORMAL
NATO FOREIGN MINISTERIAL

REF: A. STATE 4834


B. STATE 7434

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Scott F. Kilner. Reason: 1.4 (b) and
(d).


1. (SBU) Charge presented reftel demarches on January 24 to
Austrian MFA Political Director Thomas Mayr-Harting. Embassy
had previewed ref (a) material on January 19 to
Mayr-Harting's office.


2. (C) Mayr-Harting confirmed that Austrian Foreign Minister
Ursula Plassnik would attend the ministerial in Brussels on
January 26. Charge said that Afghanistan was the clear focus
of that meeting and of the February informal Defense
Ministeral. The United States would be looking to partners,
including Austria, to provide new contributions to the
serious needs in Afghanistan, he stressed.


3. (C) Mayr-Harting noted that Austria continues to maintain
a small military presence in Afghanistan, and recalled the
fact that Austria had deployed larger numbers of troops to
the country twice. Austria would support an EU consensus to
deploy an ESDP police mission to Afghanistan, he said.
However, Austria's priorities, and the focus of its
resources, were principally in the Balkans. Mayr-Harting did
not believe Austria had additional capacity for making a
major change in its military presence in Afghanistan.


4. (C) Counter-narcotics was an area in which Austria had
devoted attention in Afghanistan and in the Central Asian
countries, Mayr-Harting added. This could be a field for
closer cooperation, he offered.
Kilner