AUSTRIAN SUPPORT FOR CHAD MISSION SOLID

C O N F I D E N T I A L VIENNA 000070 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/15/2023 TAGS: PREL EUN MARR PREF CD AU SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN SUPPORT FOR CHAD MISSION SOLID REF: STATE 3208 Classified By: Econ/Pol Counselor Dean Yap. Reason: 1.4(b) and (d) ¶1. (C) A series of conversations with Austrian Foreign Ministry and Social Democratic party leaders have confirmed solid Austrian support for the EU's Chad Mission, despite a continuing campaign by opposition parties and Austria's most prominent newspaper against the deployment. MFA Security Policy Department Chief Thomas Hajnoczi reported Jan. 14 that the Jan. 11 French announcement that it would provide additional units (mainly helicopters) to enable the mission to go forward was an expected step. Within the EU, he reported, Germany and the UK, had long been very clear that they would not contribute to the Mission; much of the delay, Hajnoczi indicated, was due to French efforts to get London and Berlin to change their minds. Hajnoczi also reported that the opposition to the deployment from the Green Party was weak; Green chairman van der Bellin had told him that he regretted that Austrian parliamentary procedure did not allow him to abstain on the vote and that party Foreign Policy Spokesman Ursula Lunacek was privately in favor of the deployment. ¶2. (C) In brief conversations Jan. 15, leading figures in the Social Democratic party confirmed that, although the deployment remains unpopular in Austria, the parliamentary party is solidly behind it. Parliamentary caucus leader Josef Cap said that the caucus would follow the line decided by the party leadership. Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Andreas Schieder (SPO) said there would be no revolt from the back benches over Chad. In addition, Bernhard Wrabetz, Chancellor Gusenbauer's foreign policy advisor, confirmed the government's commitment to the deployment. Kilner