POLAND: U/S DOBRIANSKY MEETING WITH MFA SIKORSKI

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SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR G, S/P, EUR, WHA
EUR/NCE FOR LLOCHMAN, BPUTNEY
S/P FOR DPITTMAN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/23/2018
TAGS: OVIP PREL PGOV KDEM PL
SUBJECT: POLAND: U/S DOBRIANSKY MEETING WITH MFA SIKORSKI

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Classified By: AMBASSADOR VICTOR ASHE, REASONS 1.4 B, D


1. (C) Summary: Minister of Foreign Affairs Radek Sikorski
told Under Secretary for Global Affairs Dobriansky that
Poland has selected a head for the Secretariat of the
Community of Democracies, although the name is not yet
public. Minister Sikorski believes the U.S. should do more
to support TV Belarus. Poland considers the new UN Human
Rights Council a disappointment. The NATO allies crafted a
fair compromise for Georgia and Ukraine that promises them
eventual membership - something Poland diQ have when it
pursued membership. Minister Sikorski characterized Germany
as a Russian Trojan horse in NATO. He opined that NATO needs
to concentrate more on civilian rebuilding in Afghanistan and
improve infrastructure and logistical capabilities or risk
being unable to defend members. The Under Secretary welcomed
Under Secretary Ryszard Schnepf's proposal to discuss Latin
American issues after the EU-Latin America Summit in mid-May.
End Summary.


2. (C) Under Secretary for Global Affairs Dobriansky met
with Minister of Foreign Affairs Radek Sikorski during a
visit to Warsaw on April 14. Other Polish interlocutors were
Ambassador Andrzej Jaroszynski, Director of the Americas
Department; Ambassador Marcin Nawrot, Director of the UN
System and Global Affairs Department; and Maciej Nowak,
America's Department desk officer (notetaker). The U.S.
delegation also included Ambassador, Dean Pittman of S/P, and
Econoff (notetaker). The Under Secretary had a brief
follow-on meeting with Under Secretary of State Ryszard
Schnepf. Under Secretary Dobriansky's meetings with Minister
of Environment Nowicki and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister
of Economy Pawlak are reported septel.

Community of Democracies - Poland Acting While Others Talk
-------------- --------------


3. (C) Under Secretary Dobriansky expressed her thanks for
the Minister's efforts to establish the secretariat for the
Community of Democracies and asked for an update on Polish
efforts. Minister Sikorski commented that Poland is acting
while others are just talking. The staff had been selected
but not yet appointed. Professor Bronislaw Misztal, a
Polish-American teaching at American University, will head
the Secretariat. Misztal is an informal advisor to the
Minister and has 30 years of experience in Democracy issues,
including Cuba. He will be in Warsaw within two weeks.

Cuba
--------------


4. (C) The U/S described the recent USG roundtable on Cuba
in Miami with representatives from EU countries including
Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Germany,
Spain, and the UK. The USG is trying to broaden the
engagement on Cuba with a different approach. During the
roundtable the countries heard directly from the Cuban
community about their desire for advice from those with
practical experience with the transition to democracy. They
are particularly interested in the experience of Central
European countries. The Minister stated that he made a
proposal on Cuba to the Ambassador and is waiting for
feedback. Ambassador replied that the Department is anxious
to pursue anything that will work and that he would follow-up
on the discussion.

TV Belarus - U.S. Can Do Better
--------------


5. (C) Minister Sikorski noted that Poland is receiving
support from several countries for TV Belarus. The United
Kingdom, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Ireland are now
contributing. He allocated 18 million zloty from this year's
budget for the effort. To Under Secretary Dobriansky's

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comment that Assistant Secretary Fried had agreed to provide
resources to the efforts, Sikorsky responded that the U.S.
can do better than $200,000. To date, 7.3% of Belarussians
have seen the channel, which in his opinion is pretty good.
Ambassador Jaroszynski added that negotiations are underway
to change the satellite used by the station to provide better
access for viewers. Minister Sikorski noted that journalists
working on the project are being persecuted - a good sign.

UN Human Rights Council a Disappointment
--------------


6. (C) When Minister Sikorski was in Geneva two weeks ago
he was briefed by Poland's Ambassador to the UN there about
the new Human Rights Council. He was surprised to hear that
the Council is worse than the previous Human Rights
Commission. Under Secretary Dobriansky responded that the
USG was concerned about the Council and its membership. The
U.S. believed that the previous Commission had a broader
focus. The current Council appeared not to be functioning in
a desired way - for example there have been at least 15
resolutions that are anti-Israel. The USG wants to support
the Human Rights Council, but the institution has not moved
forward in the right way.

Reaction of Ukraine and Georgia to NATO Ministerial
-------------- --------------


7. (C) Under Secretary Dobriansky asked the Minister for
his opinion of Ukraine and Georgia's views of the results of
the recent NATO Ministerial. Minister Sikorski replied that
Ukraine and Georgia came out of the meeting well. The Allies
crafted a fairly good compromise. While Ukraine and Georgia
did not get MAP they were promised eventual NATO membership,
a promise Poland did not have when it wanted to join NATO.
He remembered despairing that Poland would ever be a NATO
member three years after Poland announced that it wanted to
join. The Ukrainians and Georgians know there will be
reviews and have to get their acts together. Ukraine wasted
time and moral authority since the Orange Revolution.
Tymoshenko sent mixed signals in the run-up to Bucharest.

Germany and Russia
--------------


8. (C) Minister Sikorski wryly commented that many accused
Poland of being the U.S. Trojan horse in the EU when it
joined in 2004, but there is another Trojan horse in NATO.
In Bucharest, Germany declared its independence of the U.S.
on the crucial issue of Ukrainian and Georgian membership.
Asked by the Under Secretary if this has ramifications that
the U.S. should be concerned about, Sikorski responded that
in formulating its Eastern Policy the EU can't do much
without Germany. Asked what the U.S. strategy should be
towards Germany and Russia, Sikorski responded that Germany
appears to have a deal with Russia. "They'll play with
Russia and in return German companies will get hundreds of
billions of Euros of business there, a pretty good deal." In
recent talks with German Foreign Minister Steinmeier,
Sikorski said that Poland wants Ukraine in the EU by 2020.
Steimeier appeared receptive when he realized there is time
for Ukraine to prepare and it would not happen overnight.

The Future of NATO
--------------


9. (C) Minister Sikorski said he is worried about NATO.
Chancellor Merkel is talking about NATO as an alliance rather
than a military organization. NATO's attractiveness will
only continue if it has the logistics and infrastructure to
support new members. Repeating his oft stated complaints,
Sikorski said Poland doesn't feel like a proper member of
NATO: it only has one unfinished conference center. He said
it is doubtful NATO would really help Poland because there is

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not the infrastructure and logistics chain to do so, raising
questions about how well NATO would defend Ukraine and
Georgia. More must be done to even out the distribution of
NATO's infrastructure. If not, the time will come when NATO
is just a political club, its bluff will be called, and there
will be political consequences. NATO's strategy needs to be
reassessed. The Alliance is too politically correct.
Recently, intelligence gathered on increases in the Russian
defense budget was censored at the level of the NATO 301.
This then skewed the threat assessment. NATO doesn't have
war games and exercises any more. One of the strengths of
NATO was its military component and horizontal links between
militaries, which is being lost because the militaries are
not exercising together.

Putin "Outrageous" in Bucharest
--------------


10. (C) "Prime Minister Putin was completely outrageous in
Bucharest," said the Minister. Putin called Ukraine a
seasonal, artificial state, not long for this world. The
Ukrainian Defense Minister was in Warsaw last Thursday and
Minister Sikorski gave him a classified copy of PM Putin's
speech, telling him it might be helpful in fighting for his
budget. Prior to receiving the speech, the Defense Minister
had only seen the press reports.

Afghanistan
--------------


11. (C) Responding to S/P Pittman's inquiry of whether
NATO's position was stronger or weaker after Bucharest, the
Minister said that no one has any idea how to deal with
Afghanistan. The real solutions are civilian. The EU should
solve the problem, but its members see Afghanistan as a U.S.
problem. The military is in a holding pattern and NATO as an
institution is incapable of thinking about a political
project to coopt the Afghanistani regional warlords and
elites. We should be targeting money and could have more
development in Afghanistan. We need a rigorous counter
insurgency strategy. There should be a change in thinking
and 80% of efforts should be in the civilian sector.


12. (C) Asked about the Polish people's commitment to GOP
efforts in Afghanistan, the Minister responded that Polish
activities in Afghanistan are unpopular but there is not
energetic hostility, probably because losses have been low.
But, that could change easily. He is trying to explain the
mission, arguing that engagement in Afghanistan should
demonstrate to the U.S. how Poland can be useful to NATO. In
return, the U.S. should make more signs that Poland's
territorial defense is important. The U.S. only has six
soldiers on Polish soil outside the embassy.

COP
---


13. (C) Under Secretary Dobriansky concluded by stating
that while in Warsaw she is also meeting with Minister of
Economy Nowicki and Minister of Economy Pawlak about the UN
Conference of Parties (COP) Conference to be held in Poznan
in December. Minister Sikorski noted that the MFA is just
monitoring GOP efforts. U/S Dobriansky commented that the
GOP appears to have a good plan to take advantage of the COP
by scheduling seminars in DC.

Post EU-Latin America Summit
--------------


14. (C) During a brief follow-on meeting, Under Secretary
Ryszard Schnepf told Under Secretary Dobriansky that he would
like to discuss Latin American issues with the USG after the
EU-Latin American summit in May. Besides the Summit
outcomes, he could discuss Venezuela and the future of the

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Community of Democracies. Under Secretary Dobriansky told
the U/S about the Day of Solidarity with Democracy in Cuba
that the USG is encouraging other governments to support.
The USG is very interested in the Community of Democracies
and would like guidance from Poland on the best structure,
countries to involve, and issues to prioritize. The U.S.,
Chile, and South Korea will assign staff to the secretariat
and the USG is trying to get other countries involved. Chile
is trying to get the EU more involved.


15. (U) Under Secretary Dobriansky cleared on this cable.
ASHE