GERMANY: HOST NATION CONSULTATIONS INITIATED ON

S E C R E T BERLIN 000465 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/14/2018 TAGS: MARR PREL NATO GM SUBJECT: GERMANY: HOST NATION CONSULTATIONS INITIATED ON ROUND 54 BASE CLOSURES REF: STATE 30898 Classified By: POLITICAL MINISTER COUNSELOR JEFF RATHKE. REASONS: 1.4 ( B) AND (D). ¶1. (S) As instructed reftel, post has opened consultations with both the German Ministry of Defense (MOD) and the Federal Foreign Office (FFO) on EUCOM plans to close and return 15 U.S. military sites in Germany (Round 54). In a letter outlining the planned action, we have asked for any German government comments or objections by May 12. ¶2. (S) Embassy USAREUR liaison officer and assistant army attach delivered the Round 54 letter to Andreas Conradi, legal assistant to MOD State Secretary Peter Wichert, April ¶10. Without objection, Conradi accepted the letter and our comment that the proposed base closures would be the result of previously announced troop withdrawals from the 1st Armored Division. Conradi noted that the 140 local national job losses would be distributed throughout the USAREUR presence in the country. Conradi will show the letter to State Secretary Wichert and pass the original through classified channels to a sub-office in Bonn, which is responsible for tracking stationing changes and conducting coordination with the German states. ¶3. (S) Embassy pol-mil chief delivered the Round 54 letter to Weert Boerner, action officer in the FFO Office for U.S. and Canadian affairs, April 11. Boerner took the notification in stride and offered no immediate comment. ¶4. (S) Post will report septel after the May 12 deadline any comments or objections received during the 30-day consultation period. TIMKEN JR