FM AMADO, AMBASSADOR DISCUSS KOSOVO, AFGHANISTAN,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LISBON 000410

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/15/2018
TAGS: PREL PHUM MARR PO
SUBJECT: FM AMADO, AMBASSADOR DISCUSS KOSOVO, AFGHANISTAN,
LAJES AIR BASE, AND COMMUNITY OF DEMOCRACIES

REF: A. STATE 15111

B. LISBON 351

C. LISBON 350

D. STATE 14246

E. STATE 13716

F. LISBON 251

G. LISBON 183

LISBON 00000410 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: AMBASSADOR THOMAS STEPHENSON FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D)
.

Summary
--------------


1. (C) In a one-on-lunch with the Ambassador on February 14,
FM Luis Amado said he would push for Portugal to be among the
first wave of countries recognizing Kosovo, if there is
agreement on an EU umbrella statement. Amado is pushing for
a Portuguese commitment to lead a second OMLT in Afghanistan,
once its commando company withdraws in August. Regarding the
potential for a new air-to-air training area north of the
Azores archipelago, Amado suggested the United States make an
official proposal at the Bilateral Commission February 21 so
that the GOP could begin formal consideration of the concept.
The Ambassador encouraged Portugal to demonstrate dynamic
leadership in its chairmanship of the Community of
Democracies, and he gave Amado a heads-up that we would be
reaching out to negotiate a bilateral memorandum of
understanding governing Portugal's participation in the Visa
Waiver Program. End Summary.

Kosovo
--------------


2. (C) In a one-on-one lunch he hosted at the MFA for the
Ambassador on February 14, FM Amado said he was still hopeful
EU member states would be able to agree on a consensus
statement in response to a Kosovo CDI, but Spain and Cyprus
were now the primary obstacles. According to Amado, FM
Moratinos had promised his party that Spain would not
recognize Kosovo without an EU agreement. When the
Ambassador pressed for Portugal's quick recognition of Kosovo
(per refs A and E),Amado said -- if there is an umbrella EU
statement -- he would push for Portugal to be among the first
wave of EU member states conferring recognition.

Aghanistan
--------------


3. (C) The Ambassador urged that Portugal reconsider its
recent decision to reduce its ISAF deployment in August, from
a company of commandos to a 15-person OMLT and a C-130.
Amado expressed unhappiness with the way that announcement
had been handled (NB: we learned of it through an Iranian
news service account of parliamentary testimony by Minister
of Defense Severiano Teixeira) as well as with the decision
itself. He implied that President Cavaco Silva had been
behind the decision. We do not have the sense that the
Portuguese military is overstretched, the Ambassador
remarked, and Amado concurred. The Foreign Minister added
that he had spoken to Severiano Teixeira the day before to
urge that Portugal provide a second OMLT in addition to the
one it had already committed to.

Lajes training area
--------------


4. (C) The Ambassador remarked on the GOP's apparent
nervousness regarding the possibility of establishing an
air-to-air training area for fighter jets north of the
Azores. Did the insistence by GOP officials in the media
that there had been only informal, "technical level"
discussions but no formal negotiations reflect opposition
within the GOP to the concept? Not at all, Amado replied.
His only concern was to avoid the perception that the central
government in Lisbon was getting ahead of the Regional
Government of the Azores, and his own public comments on the
topic had been made for public consumption in the Azores. In
fact, the concept makes sense, and the U.S. side should
propose it in the upcoming Bilateral Commission so that the
GOP can then take it up formally.

East Timor
--------------


5. (C) Amado said he was monitoring developments in East
Timor closely and was in regular contact with his Australian
counterpart. He was not aware that Dili had yet requested
deployment of additional Portuguese paramilitary troops

LISBON 00000410 002.4 OF 002


(GNR).

Community of Democracies
--------------


6. (C) Per ref D, the Ambassador encouraged Portugal to
demonstrate dynamic leadership in its current chairmanship of
the Community of Democracies (CD),and to mold it into a more
action-oriented organization. Amado noted that, with the EU
presidency now over, his Ministry was only now turning its
attention to the CD. His staff is taking a serious look at
the objectives Portugal might pursue and he hoped to have
more clarity shortly.

Visa Waiver Program -- MOUs
--------------


7. (C) The Ambassador informed Amado that we would soon be
reaching out to his chief of consular affairs
to begin the process of negotiating a bilateral Memorandum of
Understanding governing Portugal's participation in the Visa
Waiver Program. The Minister had no substantive comment.

Comment
--------------


8. (C) In a sign of the importance he places on ties with
Washington, Amado extended this lunch invitation within two
hours after the Ambassador had presented his credentials on
February 8. The Minister was engaging and knowledgeable, and
the Ambassador was able to build an extremely positive
rapport. It is clear that Amado disagrees with the
Afghanistan drawdown decision and will do all he can to
ensure Portugal remains engaged there to the extent possible,
and the Ambassador will press President Cavaco Silva on that
front when they next meet. We learned nothing new on
Kosovo, although Amado's comment that he would press for
Portugal to be among the first wave of countries conferring
recognition contradicts the recent remarks of his political
director, Vasco Bramao Ramos, who has told us Portugal would
not recognize immediately (ref C). Regarding the potential
for an air-to-air training area north of the Azores, we will
take Amado's suggestion and raise the idea officially at the
Bilateral Commission meeting on February 21.
Stephenson