AMBASSADOR'S FAREWELL MEETING WITH AUSTRIAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L VIENNA 002856

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/27/2022
TAGS: PREL AU
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S FAREWELL MEETING WITH AUSTRIAN
FOREIGN MINISTER

Classified By: ECON/POL Couns Dean Yap. Reason: 1.4(b) and (d).


1. (U) On Thanksgiving Day, Amb. McCaw had an hour-long
one-on-one farewell call with FonMin Plassnik. The following
is based on the readout provided to CDA Kilner.

Annapolis
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2. (C) At the time of the meeting, Austria had not yet been
invited to the Annapolis MEPP conference. Plassnik touched
only lightly on the subject, noting that GOA
non-participation would "be hard to explain to the Austrian
people," but wishing the U.S. well. She said that Austria
would do its best to be supportive of any follow-up efforts.
She renewed the offer of Vienna as a venue for any working
group meetings that might emerge from Annapolis.
Interestingly, Plassnik drew a connection with Austria's
six-month limitation on its Chad deployment, claiming that
the GoA wanted to retain the flexibility to contribute to any
peacekeeping mission that might flow out of a post-Annapolis
agreement.

Afghanistan
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3. (C) Plassnik indicated that she had given some thought to
organizing a "Women in Afghanistan" conference, similar to
previous Vienna events focused on the Middle East and
Serbia/Kosovo. Beyond that, however, she foresaw no increase
in Austrian engagement in Afghanistan. Austria's priorities
lay in the Balkans and Middle East, rather than South Asia.

Relations with Secretary Rice
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4. (C) Plassnik spoke at length about her extremely high
regard for Secretary Rice, leaving no doubt that she believes
she has a particularly good personal bond with the Secretary.
To illustrate the point, she recalled that one evening
during this fall's UNGA, the Secretary had spontaneously
asked seven other Foreign Ministers, Plassnik included, to
join her for a very casual and informal dinner. Plassnik
described it as a fantastic evening, which made a huge
impression on her.

Press Statement
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5. (U) Unusually, Plassnik issued a press statement after the
meeting, in which she praised both the Ambassador and the
importance of trans-Atlantic relations. The statement
included praise for America's historic role in Europe, but
focused on the present. She said, inter alia: "America is an
important partner with much credibility in the Balkans."
"Close trans-Atlantic cooperation on the basis of equality is
a necessary element of efforts to find sustainable solutions
in international crisis regions," notably the Middle East,
despite "different emphases, for example regarding Iran."
The statement stressed that Europeans should not allow their
view of AMERICA to be limited to a single factor, but "must
see the totality of our manifold and developed relations."

Ambassador's Comment
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6. (C) Plassnik appears to worship Secretary Rice. If we
ever get into a serious stand-off with the Austrians on an
issue of high concern, a phone call from the Secretary to
Plassnik would probably be the highest card we could play.
Kilner