BELGIAN CANDIDATE FOR DIRECTOR GENERAL OF IAEA TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRUSSELS 000599 SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/WE AND ISN E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/24/2019 TAGS: KNNP ENRG PREL MNUC IAEA BE SUBJECT: BELGIAN CANDIDATE FOR DIRECTOR GENERAL OF IAEA TO BE ANNOUNCED Classified By: Political Economic Counselor Richard Eason, reasons 1.4( b) and (d). ¶1. (C) On April 24, Werner Bauwens, Belgian Special Envoy for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, informed Poloff unofficially that Belgium will soon put forward the name of Jean-Pol Poncelet as a candidate to succeed Mohamed El-Baradei as Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency. ¶2. (C) Poncelet is a former Minister of Defense (1995-99) and Minister of Energy (1998-99) of Belgium and is currently reputed to be Director for Sustainable Development and Continued Progress at AREVA, the French nuclear technology company. BUSH .