DEMARCHE TO AUSTRIA: BUILDING INTERNATIONAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L VIENNA 000721 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR AF/S - HILL AND EUR/AGS - SAINT-ANDRE E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/21/2017 TAGS: PREL PHUM ZI AU SUBJECT: DEMARCHE TO AUSTRIA: BUILDING INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT FOR DEMOCRACY IN ZIMBABWE REF: A. STATE 34009 ¶B. VIENNA 688 ¶C. STATE 33357 Classified By: Economic-Political Counselor Gregory E. Phillips. Reaso n: 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (SBU) EconPolCouns presented ref (a) demarche on March 21 to Gerhard Weinberger, the Austrian MFA's Acting Africa Director. ¶2. (C) Consistent with ref (b),Weinberger said Austria shares our views on the political, economic and security problems in Zimbabwe. He said that in a recent teleconference, the Austrian Ambassador in Harare had expressed grave concern about the situation. Weinberger said the EU Africa Working Group was discussing the possibility of sanctions if the situation were to deteriorate. One positive sign he noted was a certain movement within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) toward putting more pressure on Mugabe. ¶3. (C) Per ref (b),Austria supports UN Human Rights Council action on Zimbabwe. McCaw