HUNGARIAN COMMENTS ON EU'S MARCH 10-11 FOREIGN

UNCLAS BUDAPEST 000258

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV HU
SUBJECT: HUNGARIAN COMMENTS ON EU'S MARCH 10-11 FOREIGN
MINISTERS MEETING (GAERC)

REF: SECSTATE 22352


1. MFA EU External Relations and Crisis Situations Section
Chief Andras Dekany discussed reftel agenda items with PolOff
on March 7. Dekany provided the following comments by agenda
item:

Western Balkans:

- Kosovo: Good news that the government in Pristina has shown
"sufficient maturity" in dealing with Serbia and potential
Serbian reactions to the declaration of independence. That
said, the Kosovar Government needs to reach out to the Serb
and other minorities. We must carefully, but deliberately,
proceed in northern Kosovo, calming down the situation to
prevent further escalation. While Hungary does not support
preserving UNMIK's full powers in northern Kosovo, the EULEX
mission is very important. EULEX should "not say no" to one
of its most important purposes - the protection of the Serb
minority. The EULEX mission should be particularly active in
Serbian enclaves while, at the same time, paying careful
attention to preserve the patience of Pristina. The NATO/EU
relationship in Kosovo is crucial in addressing the issues in
Kosovo.

- Serbia: They are in an internal political crisis. The
situation is very fluid, and we should not take actions that
could do harm to those who support EU integration. Early
elections would lead to a less favorable situation, and the
EU should continue the Interim EU agreement regardless of the
rhetoric. The visa liberalization roadmap should be
implemented - it would be difficult even for the hard-liners
to refuse. We are open and ready to handle the Stability and
Association Agreements (SAA) in a flexible fashion.

- Bosnia: Favorable and unfavorable news. We believe it
would be a turning point if we could bring the SAA closer to
implementation to support police reform. The EU should make
it clear to the politicians, especially those in Republika
Srpska, that the EU will refuse to recognize the results of
any referendum on independence.

- Israeli-Palestinian peace process: This will be an item for
the EU Council rather than the GAERC.

- Pakistan: We welcome the basically free election results,
agreeing with the preliminary report of the EU - the
elections are an important benchmark in the democratization
process in Pakistan. We encourage all factions to work
together to face the threat of terrorism. Additionally, as a
nuclear weapons nation, instability has broader EU context.
Closer to home, the Hungarian energy company, MOL, has assets
in Pakistan, thus there are economic implications as well for
Hungary associated with instability.

Zimbabwe: We are concerned that the Mugabe government has not
called for UN or EU observers for the upcoming March 29
elections. We support EU efforts related to the SADC
initiatives to mediate between the Government and the
opposition.

- Georgia: We support an EU negotiating mandate for a free
trade agreement between the EU and Georgia based on a
feasibility study as well as launching an examination of the
current visa process. As many Georgian citizens also hold
Russian citizenship, we support strengthening confidence
building measures between Georgia and their disputed regions.

- Iran: The U.S. has an important role to play in "selling"
the sanctions - to promote the necessity of implementation to
other countries. Some European countries are reluctant,
viewing the UNSC resolution as providing some flexibility to
fully implement all sanctions, thus putting EU member states
at an economic disadvantage.


2. In closing, Dekany noted that discussions of Afghanistan
will most likely take place at the Ministerial dinner, while
the Western Balkans and Iran items will be discussed during
the formal lunch, rather than during the meeting sessions.
FOLEY