Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08BUDAPEST1149
2008-12-01 13:44:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Budapest
Cable title:  

INL A/S JOHNSON DISCUSSES AFGHAN AND HUNGARIAN

Tags:  SNAR PREL PGOV HU 
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VZCZCXRO3004
RR RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHNP RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHUP #1149/01 3361344
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 011344Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY BUDAPEST
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3648
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHBW/AMEMBASSY BELGRADE 0007
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 0100
RHMFISS/FBI WASHINGTON DC
RUEHPS/AMEMBASSY PRISTINA 0759
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).

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