PARLIAMENT VOTES UNANIMOUSLY TO EXTEND PRT AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L BUDAPEST 000700 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/EC JAMIE MOORE. PASS TO NSC JEFF HOVENIER. E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/22/2012 TAGS: PREL MOPS MARR AF HU SUBJECT: PARLIAMENT VOTES UNANIMOUSLY TO EXTEND PRT AND OMLT MISSIONS Classified By: Political Counselor Paul C. O'Friel for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (SBU) Parliament voted unanimously September 21 to approve the extension of the Hungarian Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) and Operational Mentor and Liaison Team (OMLT) missions to Afghanistan. The PRT mandate is now authorized through October 1, 2010, while the OMLT will extend until August 31, 2010. Hungary's Special Forces detachment is already authorized through January 2010. Hungary presently has 311 soldiers deployed to Afghanistan. ¶2. (SBU) At a briefing for DAO representatives last week, the Hungarian Joint Forces Command said it is planning to support the OMLT through 2012, and that the PRT mission would continue at least as long as the OMLT presence. (Note: The OMLT, which consists of 28 personnel, is jointly staffed by Hungarian forces and the Ohio National Guard. End Note.) ¶3. (C) Andras Klein, the senior foreign policy advisor to Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Zsolt Nemeth, told us September 22 that Afghanistan is one issue that still enjoys full cross-party support in Hungary. He noted, however, that MPs are worried about the deteriorating situation. Chairman Nemeth intends to call Defense Minister Szekeres to testify before the Foreign Affairs Committee in mid-November on the issue, Klein stated. LEVINE