IRISH VIEWS ON THE JANUARY 28-29 EU FOREIGN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DUBLIN 000048

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/25/2018
TAGS: EUN PGOV PHUM PREL KV IR IZ IS SU EI
SUBJECT: IRISH VIEWS ON THE JANUARY 28-29 EU FOREIGN
MINISTERS' MEETING (GAERC)

REF: A. STATE 7679


B. DUBLIN 43

C. 07 STATE 171106

D. 07 DUBLIN 903

E. 07 DUBLIN 336

Classified By: Pol/Econ Section Chief Ted Pierce;
Reason 1.4 (B) and (D).

Summary
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1. (C) POLOFF delivered the January GAERC demarche on
January 24 to Pat Kelly, European Correspondent, Department
of Foreign Affairs (DFA). Ireland is likely to recognize
Kosovo's independence quickly, and is generally sympathetic
to U.S. views on the Middle East, Lebanon, Pakistan, Sudan,
DRC, and Burma. Ireland and the EU's next steps in Iran will
be informed by the third anticipated UNSCR. Ireland will not
be reopening its Baghdad mission any time soon. End summary.

Western Balkans
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2. (C) Kelly reiterated the points made to POLOFFS by DFA
Political Director Rory Montgomery on January 18 (Ref B).
Ireland is likely to recognize Kosovo's independence quickly,
but will want to act in concert with the EU insofar as
possible. Ireland sees EU/U.S. consensus as critical to a
successful outcome in Kosovo.

Iran
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3. (C) As with Kosovo, Kelly said, Ireland feels that broad
and sustained international consensus is needed to secure
Iranian compliance with UNSCRs. He stated that further Irish
(and, indeed, EU) actions on Iran -- including possible
sanctions -- will be informed by the third anticipated UNSCR.

Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process
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4. (SBU) Ireland and the EU want to maintain the momentum of
the Annapolis and donors' conferences, but find the
establishment of new Israeli settlements counter-productive,
according to Kelly. He anticipated that the GAERC will send
a clear message to the Middle East: While the rocket attacks
on Israel are unacceptable, it is equally unacceptable for
Israel to take punitive action against the Palestinian people
for the violent acts of a few. Ireland supports the goal of
a two-state solution by the end of 2008, Kelly said.

Lebanon
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5. (C) Kelly stated that Ireland's view of the situation in
Lebanon dovetails with that of the U.S. He praised Arab
League efforts to resolve the crisis. Kelly said that the EU
was unlikely to declare that Syria was an obstacle to peace
in Lebanon, but he indicated that Ireland was concerned about
Syrian meddling and was watching Syria's poor human rights
record closely (Ref C). Kelly noted that the Government of
Ireland was aware of the financial shortfalls of the
Tribunal, but that no decision had been made on whether
Ireland would contribute additional funds.

Iraq
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6. (SBU) Kelly noted that Ireland was not planning to reopen
its Baghdad mission, which was closed in 1990 at the time of
the First Gulf War. However, he pointed out that Ireland
contributed over five million euro ($7.35 million) in
humanitarian assistance to Iraq in 2007 (Ref E),and is
assisting in the training of Iraqi prison guards.

Pakistan
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7. (SBU) Kelly said that Ireland firmly supports the
large-scale EU mission to monitor the upcoming elections in
Pakistan, noting that this mission is a clear signal of the
seriousness with which Ireland and the EU regard the need for
free and fair elections there.

Sudan/Darfur
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8. (C) Kelly stated that Ireland is concerned about the
Sudanese Government's foot-dragging on Darfur and has noted

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unfavorably the slow pace of the deployment of UNAMID. He
indicated that Ireland would be amenable to an EU "carrot and
stick" approach with the Government of Sudan -- sterner
measures coupled with incentives to cooperate. Kelly briefly
reviewed Ireland's major commitment to the planned ESDP
mission to Chad and the Central African Republic (Ref B).

DRC
---


9. (SBU) Kelly said that EUSEC will continue to engage in
security sector reform in the DRC.

Burma
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9. (C) One touchstone for Ireland in Burma is the regime's
cooperation with Gambari (Ref D),Kelly said, adding that
waiting until April for the next visit of the UN envoy is not
acceptable. Kelly predicted that continued stonewalling of
Gambari would compel the EU to take more forceful action to
bring the regime into line.

FOLEY