POLAND-IRAQ: INFORMING THE GOP OF LEADERSHIP

C O N F I D E N T I A L WARSAW 001163 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/15/2017 TAGS: PGOV PREL MARR PL IQ GG SUBJECT: POLAND-IRAQ: INFORMING THE GOP OF LEADERSHIP STRUCTURE CHANGES TO MND-CS REF: STATE 064773 Classified By: Mary T. Curtin, Political Counselor, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) DCM delivered reftel demarche during the week of May 14 in separate meetings with MFA U/S Witold Waszczykowski, PM's foreign policy adviser Amb. Andrzej Sados and Presidential Chief of Staff Elzbieta Jakubiak. The Polish side expressed appreciation for the political message on transfer of some MNF-I responsibilities to the new Georgian brigade, information which to date they had only received through operational channels and in-theater. They expressed no objections to the new MNF-I arrangements, giving the impression they have accepted the decision. ¶2. (C) COMMENT. Although Post heard there had been some grumbling among Polish senior commanders attending the recent MNF-I force generation conference, at the political level the GOP seems to have accepted the change. The May 10 visit to Warsaw of Georgian President Mikhiel Saakashvili, in which he stressed the importance of Georgian participation, may also have contributed to Polish acceptance of the new leadership structure. ASHE