EMBASSY KABUL VIEWS ON EUPOL EXPANSION IN REGIONAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L KABUL 003557 C O R R E C T E D COPY (CAPTIONS) SENSITIVE NOFORN SIPDIS STATE FOR L/EUR, EUR-RPM, S/SRAP STAFF E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/05/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL PINS MARR EUN NATO AF SUBJECT: EMBASSY KABUL VIEWS ON EUPOL EXPANSION IN REGIONAL COMMAND EAST REF: HARKENRIDER - BULKIN E-MAIL 10/3/09 Classified By: AMBASSADOR KARL EIKENBERRY FOR REASONS 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C/NF) SUMMARY: The European Union Police Mission in Afghanistan (EUPOL) hopes to expand its operations into Regional Command East (RC-E),specifically to Jalalabad Airfield and FOB Mehtarlam in Laghman Province. It proposes formalizing this understanding with signed letters of agreement for logistical and in-extremis support between EUPOL and the regional Task Force Commander. U.S. Forces Afghanistan (USFOR-A) Legal, State L/EUR and EUR/RPM are studying whether EUPOL,s proposed &letters of agreement8 would constitute a formal agreement that would set what we consider the unwanted precedent of bypassing NATO as our primary interlocutor on security cooperation in Afghanistan. Were we to find a way past these legal complications - perhaps using an informal, operational-level agreement - Embassy Kabul would support EUPOL expansion plans. END SUMMARY CONSTRAINTS ON EUPOL EXPANSION -------------- ¶2. (SBU) EUPOL is overcoming its traditional problems in staffing police training teams. The mission has filled 264 of its planned 400 international slots, and expects the remaining personnel to arrive by next summer. It has concluded memoranda of understanding or &technical arrangements8 with several PRT lead nations, enabling EUPOL personnel to deploy 84 staff to 15 PRTs thus far. EUPOL would like to sign &letters of agreement8 with American-led RC-East Regional Task Force Commanders to support small (ten or fewer persons) training team deployments to Jalalabad and Mehtarlam. Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan (CSTC-A; the military training command responsible for police and army development),and RC-East support EUPOL's expansion plan, which has relatively light logistical implications. Also, EUPOL has expressed an interest in providing higher-level, specialized training that could complement CSTC-A and INL/Dyncorps, basic training and provincial mentoring programs. ¶3. (C/NF) We have not seen a draft "letter of agreement" from EUPOL, but we have informed EUR/RPM of EUPOL,s desire to conclude these letters of agreement (ref A). State L is analyzing the precedent this might set. CSTC-A is also consulting with U.S. military lawyers. Embassy Kabul has refrained from entering into formal bilateral agreements between U.S. and EUPOL, believing that such agreements might later be invoked as setting a precedent for U.S.-EU cooperation in the defense sphere outside of the Berlin Plus agreed framework. EUPOL understands this. In a meeting with Embassy Kabul's Coordinating Director for Development and Economic Affairs, Ambassador Wayne on October 20, EUPOL Head of Mission in Kabul Kai Vittrup expressed his preference for a less formal solution, such as a local operational agreement, in order to avoid political and legal complications. ¶4. (C/NF) COMMENT: Embassy Kabul supports any mechanism for EUPOL expansion that would steer clear of the legal and policy complications inherent in a formal agreement. Interagency review in Washington will determine whether any unit-level &letters of agreement8 meet that criterion. Even EUPOL,s small planned contribution (two teams of fewer than ten persons each) would help to fill an important niche in RC-East, providing provincial police headquarters in two provinces with training on criminal and crime scene investigation and intelligence-led policing. Support for EUPOL,s expansion would also set a good example of a "two-way street" as the U.S. approaches coalition partners to add U.S. civilians at most of the thirteen coalition-led PRTs. END COMMENT EIKENBERRY