PERSPECTIVES FROM NEW DEPUTY PERMREP TO BELGIUM'S

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BRUSSELS 001118

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/WE, IO/UNP, NEA/IR, NEA/IPA, AF/C AND EAP/K

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/06/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL BE IS KN IR UNSC
SUBJECT: PERSPECTIVES FROM NEW DEPUTY PERMREP TO BELGIUM'S
UN MISSION

Classified By: Acting Political-Economic Counselor Robert Kiene, reason
s 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: Poloffs and Polintern met on August 5 with
Thomas Lambert, Belgium's new Deputy Permanent Representative
to the UN in New York. Lambert has just left a position as
Deputy Chief of the Cabinet of former Minister of Foreign
Affairs Karel De Gucht. Based on his insider's view of
Belgian foreign policy, Lambert discussed Belgian
expectations for its presidency of the European Union, which
is scheduled for June-December 2010. He expects Belgium's
role to be equally important if the Lisbon Treaty is
ratified, because the institutions under the Lisbon Treaty
will be in the process of formation while Belgium holds the
presidency. Lambert reviewed Belgium's positions on a number
of current issues before the UN, although he recognized that
policies may change somewhat under the new Foreign Minister
Yves Leterme. He noted that Belgium has so far supported
reform of the UN Security Council to expand its membership,
but he is not optimistic that any change can actually be
accomplished. He thinks that Belgium should support more
effective enforcement of UN sanctions on Iran. End Summary.

BELGIUM'S ROLE WITHIN THE EU
--------------


2. (C) Lambert told Poloffs that he expects Belgium to be
just as involved in European Union policy as holder of the
presidency in 2010, whether or not the Lisbon Treaty is
ratified. He called the Lisbon Treaty "an opportunity with
many question marks", because Belgium's role as rotating EU
president during the second half of 2010 will come at a time
of much uncertainty. If the Treaty is ratified, the
institutions of the EU President and the EU High
Representative will be forming and Belgium will have a great
deal of influence in how they are set up and the direction in
which they begin to travel, he said. Even with the
concentration of power promised by the Lisbon Treaty, Lambert
expects it will still be some time before the EU can speak
with one voice, especially in foreign affairs. Lambert also
commented on what he considers the good cooperation between
the EU's members in the Security Council Permanent Five and
the other EU member states.

SECURITY COUNCIL REFORM
--------------


3. (C) Although it has passed on its membership in the UN
Security Council, Belgium is represented in the UN General
Assembly and has held the presidency of the UN Human Rights
Council since June 19. Lambert said that Belgium is fully
aware of the arguments for increasing the size of the UNSC
and that former FM De Gucht had favored that. Lambert
believes the UNSC is not reflective of current global
realities and nations such as Japan and Germany merit a
permanent seat. He does not realistically expect to see any
change in the short term, however. According to Lambert, the
ideal situation would be for the EU to hold one seat, but
this cannot come to pass until the EU member states have a
more consistent voice. Lambert could not speculate on
Leterme's position on UNSC reform. He expects Belgium will
return to the UNSC in 2018-2019.

THE MIDDLE EAST, IRAN AND NORTH KOREA
--------------


4. (C) Lambert expects the Middle East Peace Process, Iran
and North Korea to be the most important issues facing the UN
while he is working in New York. When Karel De Gucht was
Belgian Foreign Minister, he opposed new settlements in the
Middle East and was highly critical of the Israeli push into
Gaza. Lambert does not know for certain what Leterme's exact
policies will be, but he thinks Leterme will be somewhat more
sympathetic to Israel than was De Gucht. De Gucht supported
"deepening" of existing UN sanctions against Iran and making
them more effective. Lambert too said that he did not want
to see mere "megaphone diplomacy" or empty gestures directed
at Iran. He dismissed the idea of a unilateral Israeli
attack on Iran as "unlikely" because Israel knows that
Iranian nuclear installations are well-protected and widely
dispersed, making any attack likely to fail. He does not see
this as reducing the urgency of diplomatic efforts to
convince Iran to disavow its nuclear ambitions, however.
Lambert was intrigued by former President Bill Clinton's

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recent visit to North Korea. Although Clinton went as a
private citizen, he said, the North Koreans see any contact
as political.

MORE POLICING NEEDED IN DRC
--------------


5. (C) As far as MONUC's involvement in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo (DRC) is concerned, Lambert suggested
that the most pressing issue is the quality and training of
MONUC's personnel. In his opinion, the situation in the DRC
calls for higher quality police work and less in terms of
military support. At the same time, he expressed
disappointment that De Gucht was not able to convince the EU
to send a bridging force to support MONUC when the conflict
in the Eastern Congo was at its peak in early 2009. Lambert
said that there is a good possibility of a visit by King
Albert of Belgium to the DRC next year for the fiftieth
anniversary of the country's independence.

BUSH