EU PROPOSES JOINT DEMARCHE TO SOUTH AFRICA ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BRUSSELS 000788 NOFORN SIPDIS NGA: PASS TO MELISSA PLANERT E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/08/2019 TAGS: PINR PREL EUN SF SUBJECT: EU PROPOSES JOINT DEMARCHE TO SOUTH AFRICA ON GEOSPATIAL INTELLIGENCE COOPERATION -- REQUEST FOR GUIDANCE Classified By: Charge d'Affaires, a.i. Chris Davis for reasons 1.4(b), (c) and (d). ¶1. (C//NF) Summary and Guidance Request: On June 5, representatives of the Czech EU Presidency and the EU Council Secretariat's Directorate General for Defense Issues proposed a joint U.S.-EU demarche to inform the government of South Africa of our bilateral pilot project on geospatial intelligence sharing, centering on the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The EU would like to inform Pretoria of the initiative and possibly share some of the unclassified products resulting from the project. The EU hopes that a joint demarche, if approved, could be carried out before the Czech EU Presidency ends on June 30, and therefore seeks a U.S. response within the next week. USEU requests guidance on our response to the EU's proposal by June 15. End Summary. ¶2. (C) Earlier this year, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency approved a joint project with the European Union Satellite Center (EU SATCEN) to collaborate on unclassified security products for the 2010 South Africa World Cup, using commercial imagery as the foundation. The planned security event packages will be similar to those the U.S. prepares for the Olympic Games, such as venue books with infrastructure and grid references. All will be unclassified and intended for broad dissemination to security personnel and first responders on the ground. While the intent of the project is to evaluate the potential for a formal relationship between NGA and the EU SATCEN, the U.S. and EU came to general agreement during planning sessions that we should make our plans with a view to sharing these geospatial intelligence packages with South Africa. ¶3. (C) On June 5, PolOffs met with representatives of the Czech EU Presidency and Council Secretariat, who proposed a joint U.S.-EU demarche to the Government of South Africa on the pilot project. Before introducing the proposal, Alda Silveira-Reis, Head of the EU Council Secretariat's Defense Policy and Capabilities Unit, described the EU,s perspective on the initiative. She said there is broad-based interest among Member States in forging a geospatial intelligence relationship with the United States as part of our deepening bilateral cooperation on crisis management. EU Member States recently approved the pilot project focusing on a security issue in a non-political, non-controversial venue, with this consideration in mind. ¶4. (C) Silveira-Reis said that while the pilot project is focused on U.S.-EU cooperation, Member States would like to involve South Africa to the extent possible, since that country's government is ultimately responsible for the security of the World Cup. She said the EU would like to demarche the South Africans jointly with the U.S. to present the pilot project -- not to ask permission to conduct it -- and to suggest that some information will be shared with the Government of South Africa. Silveira-Reis and a representative of the Czech EU Presidency, Defense Advisor for Capabilities Vladimir Silhan, passed PolOffs an approved EU Terms of Reference document for the proposed joint demarche. (Note: USEU will send a copy of these terms of reference to the Department via email. End Note.) ¶5. (C) The Terms of Reference read, in part: Begin Text. The involvement of the Republic of South Africa in this project is very important for us. We could cooperate by sharing locally available information and geospatial data. The resulting products would be shared with the South African government, which would be an additional contribution to guarantee cooperatively the security of the event. This would be beneficial for South Africa as host nation, and assist the US as well as the EU and its Member States in their responsibility to contribute to the protection of their citizens. We stand ready to provide the South-African government with any information it might require. End Text. ¶6. (C//NF) The EU representatives told PolOffs they would BRUSSELS 00000788 002 OF 002 like to mention an upcoming U.S.-EU demarche on this project during the EU-South Africa troika meeting on June 10, although PolOffs suggested the U.S. was unlikely to respond before that date. If we do agree, however, the EU would like to complete the joint demarche by June 30, when the Czech Presidency ends. To allow for this, or to allow the project to go forward without informing South Africa, USEU requests guidance on a response to the EU,s overture by June 15. ¶7. (C/NF): Action Request: Please provide guidance in response to the EU's request to conduct a joint demarche to South Africa. If we do not agree to the joint demarche, please provide guidance on whether we object to the EU informing the South African Government unilaterally, a step our contacts here suggested they might contemplate if the U.S. does not participate. End Comment. DAVIS .