POLISH FM ON AFGHANISTAN AND INFORMAL NATO

C O N F I D E N T I A L WARSAW 000166 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/24/2017 TAGS: NATO PREL MARR MOPS AF PL SUBJECT: POLISH FM ON AFGHANISTAN AND INFORMAL NATO MINISTERIAL REF: A. STATE 007434 ¶B. STATE 004834 ¶C. STATE 000243 Classified By: Political Counselor Mary T. Curtin for reasons 1.4 (b) a nd (d) ¶1. (C) Per reftels, Ambassador met January 25 with FM Fotyga to discuss Poland's engagement in Afghanistan. (Reftel demarches were delivered to the MFA Security Policy Department upon receipt, but the Polish response was deferred until FM Fotyga herself could meet with Ambassador.) Given Poland's imminent increase of its troop contribution to 1200 troops and exemplary record of no caveats, Ambassador chose only to praise Poland's commitment on these points. Ambassador noted that the U.S. was pressing other allies to fulfill the promises of the Riga Summit, including with regard to non-military assistance to Afghanistan. ¶2. (C) FM Fotyga responded that, in parallel with the new troop deployments, the Polish MFA was significantly increasing its diplomatic engagement in support of the Government of Afghanistan as well as its development assistance to Afghanistan. She promised that Poland planned to be "very generous, within our limited means." (N.B. According to the Security Policy Department, the 2007 budget request includes approx. $3 million in development assistance for Afghanistan. The budget has still not been approved by parliament, but MFA believes this number is not at risk.) Fotyga also added that Poland was interested in working with the Afghan agricultural sector to find viable alternatives to resurgent poppy cultivation. ¶3. (C) COMMENT. Poland has remained a steadfast leader in support of ISAF. Despite limited public support for the Afghanistan mission to date, the GOP from President Kaczynski down has shown a strong commitment to its NATO obligations and senior officials have spoken out often publicly in favor of ISAF and the Government of Afghanistan. DefMin Sikorski also has a strong personal interest in mission's success, rooted in his time spent as a BBC reporter during the Soviet-Afghan War, and he has made Afghanistan his top priority over the past year. It is also worth noting that the allocation of $3 million will make Afghanistan one of the largest recipients of Poland's nascent foreign assistance program. END COMMENT. ASHE