GERMAN GOVERNMENT TRANSITION LIKELY TO FORECLOSE

UNCLAS BERLIN 001325 SENSITIVE DEPARTMENT PASS TO NEA/PI CHARLES KIAMIE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OPDC PREL ECON KPAO KDEM KMPI GM SUBJECT: GERMAN GOVERNMENT TRANSITION LIKELY TO FORECLOSE HIGH-LEVEL PARTICIPATION AT FORUM FOR THE FUTURE REF: STATE 108570 ¶1. (SBU) MFA Deputy Head of Union for the Mediterranean and BMENA Andreas Berg told Poloff October 21 that it is unlikely that a high-level government official will be able to attend the November 2-3 Forum for the Future since the new German government will likely only have just been sworn the week before. It would be very difficult, therefore, for the new foreign minister to be able to attend. In addition, new State Ministers in the MFA will likely not yet be in place in time to allow for preparations for official travel. He did not rule out such participation, however. Berg expects that the more likely scenario is for Germany's Ambassador to Morocco to attend. Murphy