PORTUGUESE RESPOND TO COMMUNITY OF DEMOCRACIES

C O N F I D E N T I A L LISBON 000509

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DEPARTMENT FOR G, DRL, IO, EUR/WE, AF/S

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/22/2018
TAGS: KDEM PGOV PHUM PREL PO
SUBJECT: PORTUGUESE RESPOND TO COMMUNITY OF DEMOCRACIES
ACTION GOALS

REF: SECSTATE 14246

Classified By: Dana M. Brown, Pol-Econ Officer
Reason 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (SBU) Summary: Portugal has several suggestions and goals
to ensure active participation in the Community of
Democracies (CD),clear missions with results, and reforms to
reinvigorate non-Convening Group member states, according to
MFA Deputy DG Antonio Ricoca Freire. Nevertheless, the MFA
has yet to unveil its action plan publicly. After offering
positive, encouraging feedback on how to best utilize the
CD's Permanent Secretariat and the working groups, Ricoca
Freire cautioned that establishing a CD mission to support
Angolan elections would be difficult at best. Overall,
Portugal seems interested in creating a constructive term,
but it has yet to put its plan into action. Our ongoing
focus and encouragement will likely prompt the GOP to get
underway within the next few weeks. End summary.


2. (C) In response to reftel demarche points, Deputy Director
General for Political Affairs Antonio Ricoca Freire
underscored Portugal's intent to make its chairmanship of the
Community of Democracies both proactive and focused. In
particular, he cited several areas of concern that Portugal
hopes to address over the next two years, such as a decline
in momentum within the CD and a lack of useful working group
input. He said the Portuguese embassy in Washington planned
to gather Convening Group representatives together to
officially launch Portugal's chairmanship, to outline
Portugal's goals over the next two years, and to offer
suggestions to nations about making the group more
interactive. He acknowledged that Portugal was months into
its tenure without yet launching these initiatives, but
claimed that the EU Presidency had distracted the Portuguese
from action until now.


3. (C) Ricoca Freire reported that the MFA was selecting a
high-level official, perhaps a retired ambassador, to head up
the GOP efforts in the Community of Democracies on a
day-to-day basis. That person would be tasked with
overseeing a small unit within the MFA, coordinating the
twelve meetings of the Convening Group in 2008 and 2009, and
with engaging the Permanent Secretariat in CD business.
Ricoca Freire also stated that the GOP seeks to establish two
specific democracy "missions" over that same time period and
suggested hosting workshops or conferences with civil society
as possibilities.

Evolving the Organization
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4. (C) Expressing concern regarding the CD's current
functioning, Ricoca Freire confided that he saw a decrease in
productivity and enthusiasm for the group overall. He added
that, although the Convening Group (CG) was a good vehicle
for leading the group, it tended to discourage other members
from contributing. He proposed encouraging participation
from non-CG nations through the working groups and open
discussions. To that end, Ricoca Freire suggested revising
the makeup and focus of the CD working groups to be more
proactive and functional. In particular, he proposed
establishing one or two ad hoc working groups during
Portugal's CD term to focus exclusively on a set project,
such as one of the missions, and then disband once they have
completed their work. He stressed that the GOP would be open
to any ideas to make the working groups more effective and
involved.


5. (C) Ricoca Freire viewed the Permanent Secretariat as
another possible vehicle to encourage ideas and involvement
in the CD. He stated that the Secretariat seems open to any
mission at this point and lacks a clear direction. Portugal
would appreciate its assistance in setting up a coordinated
website, database, and list of CD contacts to facilitate the
CD's work, but cautioned against a broader leadership role
for the Secretariat. Ricoca Freire stressed that, if the
Secretariat assumed a leadership role, it could make the CD

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less consultative and more opaque. To combat that
possibility, he proposed that members of the Convening Group
with embassies in Warsaw send diplomats on secundment to the
Secretariat. Such international representation would help

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develop a more diverse, rich organization, he suggested.


6. (C) Regarding international participation, Ricoca Freire
also commented on Portugal's interest in stimulating Geneva's
role in CD business, particularly the UN Democracy Fund. He
stated that the goal is to see Geneva match New York's
current participation and to encourage more robust UN

engagement overall. He also commented that, although
Portugal welcomed Lithuania's offer to chair the Convening
Group from 2009-2011, the back-to-back leadership of two EU
member states would probably discourage other regional
activism in the group.

CD and the Angolan Elections
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7. (C) In response to reftel points on possible CD
involvement in Angola's elections this September, Ricoca
Freire declared that "Portugal has no pull with Angola at
all." He said the Convening Group had recognized Angola's
progress at Bamako and proposed CD involvement but had not
yet received a response from the Angolan government. He
doubted that Angola would be interested in the mission since
it could request observers from several more established
international groups such as the UN, EU, AU, or Community of
Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP). Portugal will prepare a
proposal that suggests that Angola initiate the request,
according to Ricoca Freire, to allow the GOA to direct any CD
involvement.

Comment: At the Helm but Not Steering
--------------

8. (C) Portugal assumed leadership of the CD three months ago
and has several ideas to improve the group but has yet to
start any concrete activities. We have stressed our interest
in seeing an action-oriented tenure at all levels in the MFA
and reiterated our support for Portugal's leadership, however
the GOP continues to drift without an announced policy. The
Ambassador encouraged FM Amado in a February 14 meeting to
take note of the CD's work and mentioned the possibility of
CD involvement in the Angolan elections. Amado noted that
State Secretary Cravinho would take the lead of the Community
of Democracies activities and would consider the suggestion.
Nevertheless, if the goal is to have the CD participate in
voter education or election preparations in Angola by or
before September, it seems that the USG will need to continue
to press the Portuguese at every opportunity as well as
consider approaching the Angolan government directly. End
comment.

Stephenson