CODEL HASTINGS AND THE OSCE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LISBON 002781 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/10/2018 TAGS: OVIP OSCE PGOV PO PREL SUBJECT: CODEL HASTINGS AND THE OSCE LISBON 00002781 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: DEPUTY POL/ECON COUNSELOR TROY FITRELL FOR REASONS 1.4 ( b, d) ¶1. (SBU) Summary. Congressman Hastings visited Portugal to report to OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Joao Soares regarding Hastings' recent trip through North Africa and the Middle East. Hastings will develop a proposal to allow the OSCE,s Maghreb partners to participate more fully in OSCE PA proceedings. As an interim step, Hastings will convene a seminar in Washington DC in early 2009 with OSCE officials and representatives from these partner states. Soares was pleased with both of these ideas and offered to assist. Soares also noted his worry that the OSCE Secretariat staff was becoming more concerned with its own status than in the field work that makes the OSCE effective. End summary. ¶2. (U) Congressman Alcee Hastings (D-FL) visited Portugal December 11-12 following an extensive trip to North Africa and the Middle East, both in his own capacity and as a representative of the President of the Parliamentary Assembly (PA) of the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Portuguese parliamentarian Joao Soares, the current OSCE PA President, asked Hastings, the previous OSCE PA President, to undertake an outreach effort to OSCE partner nations Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, and Israel. Hastings visited all of these states except Jordan, but also met with the Jordanian Ambassador to Israel. Travelling around the Mediterranean -------------- ¶3. (U) Hastings briefed Soares and other Portuguese OSCE PA members at the Portuguese Parliament December 11. Hastings noted that in each of the countries, discussions on Israel and Palestine were added to the discussions of parochial interests. Egyptian interlocutors in particular, he said, stressed that the U.S. had a new opportunity to move the peace process forward. ¶4. (U) Hastings said most interlocutors discussed the global financial crisis, but the North African states were more insulated from the crisis than European and North American states. Moroccan and Algerian interlocutors, he said, called for more attention to the conflict in Western Sahara. Hastings added that trafficking in persons, migration, and transnational crime were raised in all of his stops. Egypt in particular, he noted, was worried about Eritreans, Somalis, and other Africans transiting Egypt to Israel. ¶5. (C) Regarding Israel,s upcoming elections, Hastings noted that Netanyahu was in a commanding position. He said Olmert had told him that he had recently enacted pension protections as a challenge to Netanyahu, who had led deregulation efforts when serving as Finance Minister. Soares commented that Netanyahu was fluent and confident, but that Olmert's term had been better than previously expected, having become more moderate while in office. And what this means to the OSCE -------------- ¶6. (U) Hastings said he would propose a rules change for the OSCE to allow partners and observers to have greater access to the full OSCE process. He suggested that to have partners observe certain proceedings and have limited participation roles ensured that those limited speaking opportunities would be dedicated to parochial interests. Hastings suggested that such partners might well have interesting viewpoints on, for example, Chechnya and Nagorno-Karabakh. Hastings commented that such participants knew a lot more about being bombed than did Norwegian or U.S. legislators. Hastings promised to send a draft proposal to Soares for his approval in the near future, with the aim of presenting it at the upcoming OSCE PA in Lithuania. Soares agreed with the concept and said he looked forward to seeing the proposal. ¶7. (U) In the meantime, however, Hastings hoped to arrange a seminar in Washington DC in early 2009 as a stepping stone towards integrating Maghreb partners into the full OSCE PA. He hoped to invite three or four parliamentarians from each of the states to participate with academics and OSCE officials. Hastings asked Soares both to participate as a LISBON 00002781 002.2 OF 002 presenter and to assist in sending invitations to prospective invitees. Soares enthusiastically agreed to both and asked Hastings to pick a date as soon as possible. Soares noted that such parliamentarians wanted to participate in OSCE proceedings and would be particularly interested in invitations to visit the U.S. ¶8. (C) Soares noted that the OSCE is an important organization due to its emphasis on field work, in stark contrast to the United Nations, which he said "never goes anywhere," and the European Union, which he said "is a bloated bureaucracy dependent on the lowest common denominator." Although proud of the OSCE's accomplishments, Soares worried that the OSCE is "getting fat in Vienna." OSCE staff, he posited, were becoming more interested in their own status than in the field work that gives the OSCE its effectiveness. The organization, he continued, must always have more people in the field than in Vienna. On a political level, Soares lamented that many members wished to return to a cold war with Russia, something he found unacceptable. ¶9. (C) Regarding the CSCE (U.S. Helsinki Commission), Hastings noted that there are three slots from the U.S.: one each from Commerce, State, and Defense. He expected those slots to be filled quickly by the new administration and noted in particular that Commerce Secretary-designate Richardson would be an important supporter of OSCE issues. Other former legislators throughout the new administration, including Vice President-elect Biden and Chief of Staff Emmanuel would ensure the OSCE PA of favorable attention. Bilateral Relations -------------- ¶10. (U) Soares raised Portuguese Foreign Minister Amado's recent letter to his EU counterparts calling for assistance in resettling Guantanamo detainees in order to shut down the detention center there (septel),a point welcomed by Hastings. As part of an overview of new administration appointments, Hastings cited National Security Advisor-designate General Jones as an important figure who knew Portugal and Europe well. Soares responded that he had already recommended to his Prime Minister to invite General Jones to visit at his earliest convenience. ¶11. (U) Congressman Hastings cleared this cable. STEPHENSON