SWEDES INCREASE AID TO AFGHANISTAN BUT CONTINUE TO

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 STOCKHOLM 000771 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID ECON PGOV PREL KDEM KISL AF SW SUBJECT: SWEDES INCREASE AID TO AFGHANISTAN BUT CONTINUE TO DEBATE CIVILIAN-MILITARY COOPERATION REF: A. STOCKHOLM 752 ¶B. STOCKHOLM 750 ¶1. Summary: On November 13, Gunilla Carlsson, Minister for International Development Cooperation, announced that a new Afghanistan development cooperation bill had been introduced to Parliament that will: -- Focus on promoting democracy, providing education with an emphasis on increasing opportunities for females, and starting businesses. -- Increase regular development cooperation from $38.5 million to $64.1 million over the next three-year strategy period. -- Direct 20-25 percent of its total development assistance to the four Northern provinces for which the Swedish PRT is responsible. This is up from 15-20 percent in 2008. Participants at a recent Swedish seminar on civilian-military cooperation in Afghanistan and the relationship between security and development agreed that: -- Sweden's civilian presence and assistance must be expanded. -- Aid must be long term, sustainable and based on a common strategy. -- Swedish military troops should provide security and not conduct aid efforts. End Summary. ¶2. On November 12, Emboffs attended a seminar arranged by Society and Defense, the Green, Social Democrat and Left parties to discuss Swedish civilian-military cooperation in Afghanistan Participants included representatives from the ruling Alliance, key opposition parties, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA),the Ministry for Foreign Affairs (MFA),the Swedish-led PRT in Mazar-e-Sharif, the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan (SAC), and the Swedish National Defense College. Lars Ekman, Secretary-General, Society and Defense, commented that without security, there is no development, and without development, there is no security. Ambassador Oljelund, Ambassador at Large in the Swedish MFA, traveled to Afghanistan in early 2008 to review Swedish military and civilian efforts stated that PRTs should not have their own assistance funds, but should instead provide ideas and advice to civilian development professionals. ¶3. Colonel Torbjorn Larsson, Commanding Officer of the Swedish-led PRT, told participants that the primary military task is to provide security, so that development professionals can work safely in the PRT's four provinces. Larsson commented that while his troops are not trained to provide assistance, they know the regions and have established valuable relationships with the local populations. SIDA representative Sara Gustafsson agreed with Larsson, adding that Afghans must receive assistance from the Government of Afghanistan (GOA). She also stated that there must be a clear separation between military and civilian assistance workers, even though they need to cooperate and rely on each other. New Afghanistan Assistance Strategy -------------- ¶4. On November 13, the new Afghanistan ISAF assistance bill was introduced that will increase regular development cooperation from $38.5 million to $64.1 million over the next three-year strategy period. Sweden will continue its support to ISAF and further strengthen its military commitment by increasing troops from 366 to approximately 500 and raising the number of troops available for deployment from 600 to 855 (see Septel). The new bill also calls for Sweden to direct 20-25 percent of its total development assistance to the four Northern provinces for which the Swedish PRT is responsible, up from 15-20 percent in 2008. According to Carlsson, the bill will focus on three areas: promoting democracy, providing education with an emphasis on increasing opportunities for females, and starting businesses. The government has tasked SIDA with drafting a proposal for STOCKHOLM 00000771 002 OF 002 development cooperation in Afghanistan for the period July 1, 2009 to December 31, 2013. Politics, Politics and More Politics -------------- ¶5. Representatives from the Social Democratic, Green, Left and Moderate parties debated the various aspects of civilian-military cooperation and Sweden's role in Afghanistan. Although the Social Democrats are divided on the issue, they support the ISAF bill that will increase Swedish troops and increase humanitarian assistance significantly. Moderate Party representatives stressed that the ruling Alliance seeks to establish a joint organization similar to the Danish model to coordinate and improve control over Swedish assistance to Afghanistan. ¶6. Representatives from the Left and Green parties have called for Sweden to withdraw its troops and focus on humanitarian assistance, adding that Sweden has clearly "chosen sides" instead of playing its traditional role of peace-keeper. Left Party leader Lars Ohly stated "it is essential to keep U.S. war-making separate from UN peace-keeping efforts in Afghanistan." Green Party Member of Parliament (MP) Peter Radberg questioned the very purpose of PRTs, stating that "the situation has only deteriorated, and we should be increasing our civilian presence and assistance instead." Social Democrat MP suggested that PRTs should be called Provincial Security Teams (PSTs) instead. He cited Governor Atta's recent comment in an interview when asked about the Swedish PRT: "Thanks for the security. Now where's the reconstruction?" Harstedt opined that the military is being criticized for not providing reconstruction, which is something it has never been trained to provide. He advocated assembling all PRT actors - the UN, NGOs, SIDA advisors, the military, and MFA representatives - prior to deployment to train, plan and learn to work together. ¶7. Comment: All participants agreed on the need to increase Swedish civilian presence and assistance in Afghanistan, but could not agree on how to achieve the proper balance between providing security and achieving long term, sustainable development. Aside from suggesting training and planning together prior to deployment, no one addressed the unspoken question: Now that we have a consensus, where do we go from here? WOOD