HUNGARIAN FOREIGN MINISTER'S BRIEFING TO NATO/EU

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BUDAPEST 000810

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/CE JAMIE MOORE. PLEASE PASS TO JEFF
HOVENIER AT NSC

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/04/2014
TAGS: PREL NATO EUN SO ZL HU
SUBJECT: HUNGARIAN FOREIGN MINISTER'S BRIEFING TO NATO/EU
AMBASSADORS

REF: BUDAPEST 667

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Classified By: Political Officer Jon Martinson, reasons 1.4 (b,d)


1. (SBU) Summary. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Balazs
briefed NATO and EU Ambassadors November 4 on several key
MFA focus areas. Stating he was very pleased with the Lisbon
Treaty ratification, Balazs commented that he looks for
accelerated action to place the treaty in force by December.
Providing a read-out of a Visegrad Four, Hungarian-hosted
Western Balkans forum in October, Balazs, referring to the
Balkans as "a region with few people, more states, and even
greater problems," stated that NATO and the EU cannot carry
100 percent of the effort. He stressed infrastructure
development to "connect" the region with their EU member
state neighbors as a key element for progress. Commenting on
his November 3 meeting with his Slovak counterpart to
symbolically initiate the rebuilding of a bridge connecting
the two countries, the FM said this is a positive step to
move bi-lateral relations forward. The FM, noting that the
GOH was not invited to join the "wisemen" group working on a
new NATO strategic concept, informed the Ambassadors that he
has established a Hungarian "wisemen group" to provide input
to the NATO agenda. Balazs closed the briefing with comments
on climate change, the new "Danube Strategy," and a renewed
engagement with Turkey. End summary.

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LISBON TREATY
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2. (C) Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Balazs held a closed
briefing November 4 for NATO and EU Ambassadors accredited in
Budapest. The A/DCM attended on behalf of the Charge.
Balazs began by stating he was very pleased with the Lisbon
Treaty ratification, expressing his appreciation for the
Swedish presidency efforts. He anticipates rapid action at
an upcoming extraordinary EU summit meeting to accelerate the
Treaty's implementation by December. Commenting on Czech
concerns with certain aspects of the treaty, Balazs expressed
regret that some EU members take exception and opt out on
fundamental rights issues, but noted that it is their right
as an internal affairs matter but "we will find a way for
those who do not wish to be involved." Specifically
referring to the Czechoslovak Benes decrees after W.W.II, the
Foreign Minister called them regrettable, but the subject is
"a closed chapter that belongs in the past; the Lisbon Treaty
is about the future."

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WESTERN BALKANS
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3. (C) Noting Hungary's strategic interest in the Western
Balkans, the Foreign Minister described it as "a region with
few people, more states, and even greater problems; a region
where instability leads to insecurity." Acknowledging that
each Western Balkan country is a "unique case," Balazs called
Bosnia "one of the biggest headaches," as its government
currently has no ability to shape the State. The FM
underscored that the message to the three communities must be
that there is no real alternative to keeping Bosnia, as it
exists today, together. Providing a review of a Visegrad
Four, GOH-hosted October 6 forum with all the Balkan FMs,
plus Sweden, Belgium, and Spain, Balazs specifically
mentioned the participation of two countries, Spain and
Slovakia, who do not recognize Kosovo's independence.
Summarizing the discussions, the FM outlined three main
messages from the forum:

- From the perspective of the Visegrad Four, the
state-building process in the Balkans must come to a
conclusion in a positive way, but NATO and the EU cannot
handle 100 percent of the effort; implying that individual
countries in the Balkans and the surrounding region must
share the burden.

- As all the Western Balkan countries' neighbors are EU
member States, it is essential that the EU help with
integration through infrastructure development that connects
the WB countries with their neighbors. This connectivity is
a key to addressing the issues in the region, otherwise they
will remain a permanent source of instability.

- On rapprochement with the EU, Balazs said that such
discussions should only start at a stage when a country is
well prepared to integrate. "We should not start
negotiations until we are at a real point to work towards

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integration." That said, the FM highlighted the importance
of Serbia, commenting that "we must look for ways to help the
current Serbian government to take steps towards integration
with western Europe, and with Croatia's EU accession, we need
to do something for Serbia, such as visa liberalization."

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BRIDGES TO SLOVAKIA
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4. (C) FM Balazs also briefed the group on his November 3
meeting with his Slovak counterpart, FM Lajcak. Laying a new
foundation stone at the destroyed Ipoly river bridge on the
Hungarian/Slovak border, Balazs said this was a visible sign
of "an effort to continuing building bridges, politically and
physically" between Slovakia and Hungary. Balazs told the
Ambassadors that "tensions have eased, and we can work on our
problems with higher expectations, but softer implementation"
through the 12-point inter-governmental areas of cooperation
highlighted during the September 10 meeting of the two Prime
Ministers (reftel).

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HUNGARY'S "WISEMEN" GROUP
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5. (C) Sardonically mentioning that Hungary was not asked to
join the "wisemen" group developing a new NATO strategic
concept, Balazs stated "therefore we organized our own
Hungarian wisemen group." According to the FM, the group's
strategic thinking efforts aim to provide inputs to the NATO
agenda on the Organization's main direction, Article 5
issues, and financing.

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CLIMATE CHANGE
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6. (C) Currently holding the Visegrad Four (V-4) presidency,
Balazs said that Hungary is actively engaged on climate
change issues. He has invited interested countries to join
together in efforts to forge EU unity, noting recent meetings
with Slovenia, Romanian, Bulgarian and Latvian counterparts.
The FM said the focus of these meetings is to help develop a
common EU energy policy position that would be useful when
talking to third parties, such as the United States or China
on climate change issues.

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DANUBE STRATEGY
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7. (C) The FM stated that the EU Council approved the Danube
Strategy, patterned after the Baltic Strategy, in June. He
also commented as "interesting" that smaller groups within
the 27-member EU family are assembling to address such
regional issues. Balazs said that Strategy's emphasis is on
environmental issues, as well as exploring ways to increase
shipping potential for those countries along the river "not
blessed" with direct access to sea ports. Rather than
looking for more money from the EU, the FM said that the
group would look to restructure current available funds,
adding that Hungary will harmonize the group's efforts with
its 2011 presidency's focus on water issues.

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RENEWED ENGAGEMENT WITH TURKEY
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8. (C) The FM closed out his briefing by mentioning his
recent visit to Turkey, "the first FM to FM contact in a
number of years." Balazs said that he expressed support for
Turkey-EU rapprochement; welcomed the opening of the border
with Armenia; and encouraged a greater Turkish government
effort to normalize relations with Cyprus.
LEVINE