DEMARCHE: EU AND EC OFFICIALS REQUEST FURTHER

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRUSSELS 000067 SIPDIS FOR NEA JONATHAN PECCIA AND EUR/ERA GIAQUE E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/16/2019 TAGS: PREL MARR MASS PARM KWBG PBTS PHUM EU IS SUBJECT: DEMARCHE: EU AND EC OFFICIALS REQUEST FURTHER DETAILS ON U.S.-ISRAEL ANTI-SMUGGLING MOU REF: STATE 4387 Classified By: USEU DCM Christopher Murray for reasons 1.5 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Deputy Political Counselor delivered reftel demarche separately to Christian Jouret, Head of the Middle East Unit in the Council of the European Union (who works closely with Solana) and to Leonidas Tezapsidis, Head of the Near East Region (a Unit Deputy Director) in the European Commission's External Relations (RELEX) Directorate-General. Both requested further details on the content of the MOU. Jouret said he had "gotten a whiff" of the pending MOU in the press and from other contacts, and stressed that it would be helpful to know more details. He expressed some frustration at having first heard of the MOU from the press, saying "it does not help" to have so little information. He also asked about the involvement of the incoming administration in the decision to sign the MOU. ¶2. (C) Tezapsidis similarly asked for details on the MOU. He said it would be helpful to the Commission to have a fuller understanding of the content and asked whether there was an Egypt angle to the agreement. Specifically, he asked about the issue of technical support to the Egyptians to provide help in monitoring the tunnels, and conflicting reports the EC had over whether or not assistance had been offered to the Egyptians in this matter. Like Jouret, he expressed some frustration over the lack of details on the MOU and asked for details as soon as they are available. SILVERBERG .