EU ENVOY FOR BURMA MAKES LITTLE HEADWAY WITH THAIS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BANGKOK 000341

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/31/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL PREF PHUM KPAO KDEM BM TH
SUBJECT: EU ENVOY FOR BURMA MAKES LITTLE HEADWAY WITH THAIS

REF: 07 BANGKOK 5620

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Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission James F. Entwistle, reason 1.4 (
b) and (d).

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SUMMARY
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1. (C) The RTG had little to offer the EU Special Envoy for
Burma, who in turn presented no details or clarifications on
what he thought the region should do about Burma. While he
met with a wide cross section of actors that focus on Burma,
including NGOs, ASEAN diplomats, and members of the UN
family, Piero Fassino remained in listening mode for most of
his meetings. His statements to the press repeated much of
the rhetoric he has used before, namely that opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi should be freed from house arrest and
that the Burmese regime should begin inclusive dialogue aimed
at national reconciliation. Overall, the visit did not
generate any major breakthroughs, though Fassino was limited
by the fact that Thailand's recently elected government has
yet to make known its position on Burma. Fassino indicated
that he would return to Bangkok in March to meet the newly
appointed Foreign Minister and Thai government "Burma Team."
END SUMMARY.

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MFA MEETING A WASH FOR BOTH SIDES
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2. (C) During his January 29-30 stop in Bangkok on his
regional tour to drum up support for a political solution in
Burma, EU Special Envoy for Burma Piero Fassino met with
outgoing Foreign Minister Nitya Pibulsonggram. Their thirty
minute conversation proved disappointing for both sides,
according to French Deputy Chief of Mission Pascal Ledeunff
and Thai MFA Burma Desk Officer Jirusaya Birananda, who spoke
with us after the meeting. According to our contacts,
Fassino walked out frustrated with Thailand's continued
inaction on Burma, and Nitya left with a sense that the EU
envoy did not appreciate Thailand's position.


3. (C) Ledeunff explained that Fassino passed a clear message
to the Thais: Burma remained high on the EU agenda. His
appointment as Special Envoy for Burma was designed to
support the efforts of the UN's Ibrahim Gambari, with whom he
described having a good working relationship. Fassino
described sanctions as only part of the EU strategy for
Burma, and emphasized that "they are a tool, not a goal." He
encouraged the Thais to work with other countries in the
region to develop a strategy that balanced their concern for
stability in Burma with the calls for human rights and
democracy coming from the international community.


4. (C) Meanwhile, Jirusaya stated that Nitya, accompanied by
the MFA's leading expert on Burma, Kallayana
Vipattipumiprates, bristled at Fassino's implication that
Thailand had not done enough on Burma. Nitya defended the
Thai position and explained to Fassino that the RTG had
engaged the Burmese government for the past forty years.
While Nitya agreed that the status quo was not acceptable, he
believed that there still existed room for cooperation with
the Burmese government. Nitya pressed Fassino for
clarification about what the EU expected the RTG to do about
Burma, to which Fassino had no clear response. Jirusaya
explained that the Thais had expected more from the EU envoy.

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5. (C) Both diplomats agreed on the importance of continued
support for Gambari's efforts. Nitya referenced French
Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner's proposal to offer
economic incentives to the Burmese regime, and suggested the
EU consider how to implement this idea (reftel). Fassino
noted that the EU would continue to increase financial
assistance "directly to the Burmese people" either via
programs operating inside the country or cross-border
projects.

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FASSINO LISTENS TO VIEWS OF CIVIL SOCIETY
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6. (C) EU Political Attache Isabell Poppelbaum told us that
Fassino had a steep learning curve when it came to Burma. One
of the primary objectives of his visit to Thailand was to
gain a better understanding of the regional perspective and
the myriad array of actors working on Burma out of Thailand.
Fassino met with leading personalities known for their
commitment to Burma, such as former senator Kraisak
Choonhavan and Chulalongkorn University Professor Panitan
Wattanayagorn. To buttress his calls for support from the
region, Fassino held a separate session with ASEAN country
Ambassadors to Thailand.


7. (C) To help Fassino better understand the complexities of
the world of humanitarian assistance inside Burma, the EU
arranged for the UN Coordinator in Rangoon, as well as the
directors of the Burma programs for Populations Services
International (PSI),Save the Children, and Medecins Sans
Frontieres-Holland, to travel out to Bangkok to meet with the
EU Envoy. Poppelbaum explained that the purpose of that
meeting was to illustrate to Fassino that, though difficult,
it was not impossible for humanitarian assistance to work
inside Burma. At the same time, the relief organizations
highlighted the need for increased funding to humanitarian
assistance programs, particularly in the health and education
sectors, which had all but been abandoned by the Burmese
government. They believed that many local Burmese
organizations maintained the capacity to accept increased
funding, and asked Fassino to take that message back to the
EU.


8. (C) In a final gesture of goodwill, Fassino also met with
Burmese political activists based in Thailand. Participants
included representatives from the National Coalition of the
Union of Burma (NCUB),the National Coalition Government of
the Union of Burma, the Burma Lawyer's Council, and the
Ethnic Nationalities Council. NCGUB council member Sann Aung
told us that the opposition representatives had a good
meeting with Fassino, and that Fassino recounted the results
of his meetings with world leaders. According to Sann Aung,
while many leaders in the region focused on the need for
stability in Burma, Fassino emphasized the importance of
pairing stability with democracy. Ledeunff stated that the
political opposition leaders told Fassino that they sought
dialogue with the regime to work towards national
reconciliation, not outright regime change. Fassino later
told Ledeunff, however, that he had the sense that the
Burmese were saying what they thought Fassino wanted to hear,
not necessarily expressing their true point of view.

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COMMENT
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9. (C) While Fassino's visit may not have resulted in any
major breakthroughs on the diplomatic front, it did prove
useful for his own education about the situation in Burma.
Our EU and French contacts both mentioned that Fassino was
satisfied with the visit in that he had the opportunity to
meet alot of the relevant actors. We are not surprised that
Fassino and Nitya were mutually disappointed by the lack of
substance in their meeting, but this did not represent a lost
opportunity, given the timing of the visit -- Nitya is days
away from the end of his term as Foreign Minister, and he is
unlikely to have much influence over foreign policy in the
new government.
JOHN