INL A/S JOHNSON DISCUSSES AFGHAN AND HUNGARIAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BUDAPEST 001149 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR INL (A/S D. JOHNSON) AND EUR/CE (J. LAMORE) E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/01/2018 TAGS: SNAR PREL PGOV HU SUBJECT: INL A/S JOHNSON DISCUSSES AFGHAN AND HUNGARIAN COUNTERNARCOTICS Classified By: PolOff Ryan C. Leong, reasons 1.4(b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: INL A/S David Johnson stopped in Budapest October 27, on the tail end of a trip to Afghanistan and the Balkans. He spoke at INL,s Budapest International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA),met with Hungarian MFA officials to discuss Afghanistan counter-narcotics (CN) issues, and attended a dinner hosted by Ambassador April H. Foley to discuss a broad range of issues. Hungarian officials also raised what they said was a growing trend of domestic political violence that they called "domestic terrorism." End summary. ILEA Budapest -------------- ¶2. (U) A/S Johnson addressed the opening session of the eight-week Law Enforcement Executive Development (LEED) course, ILEA Budapest's premier seminar offered five times annually to mid-level law enforcement officers from former Warsaw Pact states and former Soviet republics. Since opening as a joint U.S.-Hungarian project in 1995, ILEA Budapest has moved from teaching basic law enforcement tactics to offering higher-echelon training to counter corruption, transnational terrorism, illegal migration, trafficking in persons, and crime scene investigation. Continuing role in Afghanistan and Kosovo -------------- ¶3. (C) ILEA Director Penny Hoback hosted a working lunch with senior officials from the GoH Ministry of Justice and Law Enforcement. Discussion focused on Hungary's key role in leading the Baglan PRT in Afghanistan and Hungary's commitment to the new EULEX mission in Kosovo. GoH MFA Security and Non-proliferation Department Head Vilmos Hamikus underscored Hungary,s continued pride in, and political appetite for, its efforts in Afghanistan, Kosovo, and Iraq. A/S Johnson noted that, while Baglan province is not prime poppy country, Hungary's PRT caveats prevented even minimal drug interdiction efforts. He asked if Hungary was willing to begin soft measures such as intelligence sharing and stepped-up public affairs campaigns against poppy growing. Hamikus demurred, citing the difficulty of winning over the local population while at the same time taking away from them a potential source of income. Reprisals from the drug lords, he said, also presented problems. A/S Johnson suggested that the Hungarian PRT contact USAID and INL offices in Kabul, since in Helmand they have pioneered highly-successful alternative crop strategy that may also be applicable in Baglan. Drug interdiction success stories in Hungary -------------- ¶4. (C) During a dinner hosteQby Ambassador Foley, senior officials from the Hungarian National Police (HNP) and the Hungarian National Bureau of Investigation (HNBI),Task Force Department noted their continuing success in netting "big busts" at their borders and within the country itself. TheQHungarians said that the drug traffickers were based mostly in Turkey. The narcotics, most of which originated in Afghanistan, were trafficked throQ Iran and Turkey and then into the Hungary via either Serbia or Romania. Hungarian police continued to confiscate large quantities of acetic anhydride and other precursor chemicals for the production of heroin, making headlines on a regular basis. The HNBI officials said that, while Hungary is used mostly as a transit country for heroin, they have successfully tracked down two groups that were bringing in crystal methamphetimine and ecstasy in such quantities that it was noticeable on a European level. HNP and HNBI officers thought that cooperation with neighboring countries was generally good. "Domestic terrorism" -------------- ¶5. (C) During the dinner, Hungarian officers mentioned what they said was a growing "domestic terrorism" problem. A number of politicians, they said, had been attacked with explosive devices over the past several years. The officers blamed right wing nationalists, neo-Nazis, and radical anti-government groups for fomenting the political environment in which the attacks were being conducted. Comment: Speaking later with Poloff, the officials added that the government had kept news of some of the attacks from BUDAPEST 00001149 002 OF 002 the public. The explosive devices, they said, were becoming somewhat more sophisticated, and some of the attacks were linked to veterans of Balkan wars. ¶6. (U) This cable has been cleared by A/S Johnson. Foley