AUSTRIA NOT INCLINED TO BE HELPFUL ON BELARUS

C O N F I D E N T I A L VIENNA 000463 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/01/2023 TAGS: PREL PHUM BO AU SUBJECT: AUSTRIA NOT INCLINED TO BE HELPFUL ON BELARUS REF: (A) STATE 30007 (B) STATE 32535 (C) MINSK 236 Classified By: Econ/Pol Counselor Dean Yap. Reason: 1.4(b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary. In a disappointing meeting, MFA Director for the East and Southeast Europe indicated that Austria was not inclined to engage directly or through Brussels in active diplomacy in support of the U.S. in Belarus. Noting that Austria had no Embassy in Minsk and arguing that U.S. policy was not in line with that of the EU, he allowed the possibility that COEST might, given the latest Belarusian demand for a reduction to 5 staff at the Embassy, reconsider the EU's policy. End Summary. ¶2. (C) Econ/Pol Counselor met April 1 with MFA Director Kuglitsch to review latest developments in Minsk and press for GoA support bilaterally and through the EU. Kuglitsch asked for details (e.g., dates of meetings and names of contacts) of U.S.-EU consultation, noting that while the U.S. "claimed" to have consulted the EU on its actions, he had no direct information from Brussels about such contacts. Pointing to the U.S. sanctions against Beneftekhim, Kuglitsch also maintained that U.S. policy was at odds with the EU's approach, which was to offer relief from sanctions if all prisoners are released, rather than to impose new sanctions. E/P Counselor took strong exception to this characterization. ¶3. (C) On specific Austrian/EU responses to Belarusian demands on the U.S. and its possible violation of the Vienna Convention, Kuglitsch was not forthcoming. Absent an Austrian Embassy in Minsk, no direct Austria-Belarus options were available. He acknowledged that COEST might reconsider the EU's policy in light of Belarusian demands that the U.S. reduce its staff to 5. Kuglitsch said that Austria understood the EU was not delaying the opening of the new Commission office in Minsk for political reasons, but only because of technical problems. He reported that the new office is supposed to open April 18 or 19. E/P Counselor stressed the extremely bad signal such a step would send. Kuglitsch was also not aware of any U.S.-EU "block" on Belarus' WTO accession talks; he argued that Belarus' own failure to institute necessary reforms had caused a suspension of negotiations. Asked if Austria would support demarches in Minsk by EU members or by the EU as a whole, Kuglitsch demurred, referring to the EU Presidency Declaration of March 28 ("... the recent treatment of the US Ambassador to Minsk and many of her staff who have been obliged to leave Belarus at very short notice ...(is)... particularly worrisome") as an appropriate response. ¶4. (C) On broader human/civil rights issues, Kuglitsch was more positive, but gave the clear impression that the issue was not an Austrian priority. He had expected, before the latest news, the EU to simply renew its existing sanctions despite Belarusian efforts to obtain some softening by promising the release of Kazulin before the net elections in Belarus. Kilner