CZECHS WILL NOT ATTEND MONROVIA DEVELOPMENT

UNCLAS PRAGUE 000586 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/W PDAVIS, EUR/CE, EUR/ERA PLEASE PASS TO USAID -- CHERYL KIM E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID PREL EZ EU SUBJECT: CZECHS WILL NOT ATTEND MONROVIA DEVELOPMENT MINISTERS MEETING; AID PRIORITIES OUTLINED REF: SECSTATE 89825 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: No one from the Czech Republic will attend the Monrovia Development Ministers Meeting due to other priorities, including preparations for the upcoming Czech EU presidency. The GOCR concentrates its assistance on ten long-term priority countries -- including Iraq and Afghanistan -- and four countries/territories of special interest, including Kosovo and Palestine. End summary. ¶2. (SBU) We delivered reftel demarche to MFA Development Department Director Hana Sevcikova August 27. Sevcikova reported that MFA Deputy Minister Jan Kohout will attend the Third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Accra September 2-4. No one from the Czech republic, however, will attend the Monrovia Development Ministers Meeting due to the need to concentrate on preparations for the Czech EU Presidency. Liberia is also not one of the Czech Republic's assistance priorities. Deputy Minister Kohout will, however, be available for bilaterals in Accra and in New York September 20-26 should we wish to discuss this (or other subjects) further. (Note: Since the Czech Republic does not have a development ministry, Foreign Minister Schwarzenberg has designated Deputy Minister Kohout to represent the Czech Republic on development issues. Endnote.) ¶3. (U) The Czech MFA has identified ten countries as long-term priority aid recipients: Afghanistan, Iraq, Angola, Bosnia-Herzogovina, Yemen, Moldova, Mongolia, Serbia, Vietnam, and Zambia. The MFA has also identified four additional countries/territories of special interest: Ethiopia, the Palestine Territories, Cambodia and Kosovo. In the past week, the Czech Republic has dispatched 5 million crowns (approximately USD 312,500) in emergency humanitarian aid to Georgia and approved an additional 150 million crowns (USD 9.4 million) in reconstruction aid over the next three years (see septel). Foreign Minister Schwarzenberg has also offered to host a Georgia donor's conference in Prague. ¶4. (SBU) Sevcikova noted that Czech overseas development assistance (ODA) was now 0.12 percent of GNI, the highest percentage of any of the new EU member states. Nevertheless, she did not believe that the Czech Republic could realistically meet the goal the EU had set for the new members of 0.17 percent of GNI by 2010. ¶5. (SBU) Sevcikova said the MFA's development goals during the upcoming Czech EU presidency are modest. Since one of the Czechs three overarching objectives is energy, they hope to introduce energy issues into assistance discussions. They also hope to widen the discussion within the EU on illegal immigration to include the flow of people from Eastern Europe and Asia, and not just to focus on the flow of people from the South. The GOCR will host an EU Development Ministers Conference in Prague January 29-30. Sevcikova's office will also chair during the Czech EU presidency the European Council Working Parties on Development Cooperation, on Humanitarian Assistance and Food Aid, and on Preparation for International Development Conferences. Graber