ENDING EU UNCERTAINTY ON EUPOL AFGHANISTAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRUSSELS 001684 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/15/2024 TAGS: MARR MOPS EAID PINS PGOV PREL EUN SP AF SUBJECT: ENDING EU UNCERTAINTY ON EUPOL AFGHANISTAN REF: A. USEU 1505 ¶B. USEU 1561 ¶C. USEU 3557 ¶D. EUR/ERA-USEU EMAIL 12/17/09 ¶E. KABUL 3557 Classified By: UPOL M-C CHRIS DAVIS FOR REASON 1.4 B/D ¶1. (SBU) In conversations with visiting S/CRS Ambassador Herbst and USEU poloffs on December 16 and 17, both EU Council Secretariat officials and diplomats from the Spanish EU delegation underlined the EU's continuing desire for a U.S.-EU technical agreement to enable EU civpol to deploy to U.S.-led PRTs in Afghanistan (Refs A-C). We have learned from the Department that the EU's CPCC civilian operations commander Kees Klompenhouwer separately affirmed to U.S. officials in Washington on December 17 that the EU would still like to pursue a formal U.S.-EU agreement (Ref D). In Brussels, the incoming Spanish EU Presidency's representative to the civilian crisis management Working Group told Ambassador Herbst on December 16 that the deployment of EU civpol to U.S. PRTs would be an important step towards greater U.S.-EU crisis management cooperation. The following day, he confirmed to Poloff that the EU is still seeking a technical agreement with the United States that would allow for such a deployment. ¶2. (SBU) Some at the operational level appear more pessimistic. Meeting with S/CRS Ambassador Herbst earlier on December 16, Klompenhower's deputy Matthew Reece said that, due to the EU's difficulty in recruiting civilian police to serve in Afghanistan, EUPOL would narrow its focus to a smaller number of provinces and subject areas, such as protecting urban areas and fighting corruption. Reece assessed that given force generation difficulties, EUPOL would be unable to deploy personnel to U.S.-led PRTs. ¶3. (C) Comment: We learned from the EU decision-making in the lead up to the EU's piracy mission that Secretariat misgivings quickly disappear in the face of EU Member States' desires to act. An agreement on our part to sign a technical agreement could add pressure on the EU to generate sufficient forces and muster enough political will to send their police trainers to eastern Afghanistan. Conversely, a signal of unwillingness on our part gives the EU an excuse to limit its ambition and focus elsewhere. EU Member States would like to turn EUPOL into a success so that they can claim a share of the surge's eventual success, and we continue to have the opportunity to shape their operations by coordinating more closely. End Comment. KENNARD .