PORTUGUESE UNLIKELY TO ATTEND GLOBAL INITIATIVE

UNCLAS LISBON 000152 SIPDIS ISN/WMDT E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: MCAP PARM PINR PINS PREL PTER PO SUBJECT: PORTUGUESE UNLIKELY TO ATTEND GLOBAL INITIATIVE EXERCISE PLANNING GROUP (EPG) IN SEOUL REF: STATE 22354 ¶1. (U) Pol-Econ officer, Korean Political Counselor Jum Soo Lee, and Russian Political Counselor Vladimir Dedushkin met with Portuguese MFA Deputy for Disarmament and Security Issues Joao Lago to discuss reftel Global Initiative (GI) invitation. Lago told us that, due to the short notice and staffing gaps in the Portuguese embassy in Seoul, Portugal probably would not send representatives to the meeting. He added that, as a rule, the GOP needs more than four weeks to prepare with interagency partners as well as to produce papers for GI workshops and exercise planning groups. ¶2. (U) When Lee passed the detailed information about the upcoming events, Lago agreed to share it with his counterparts at the Portuguese MOD and with Customs, since they have experts in the workshop topic areas. Lago further asked whether the meeting in Seoul would decide the direction for the Global Initiative plenary meeting in The Hague in June, since that would factor into whether the GOP participates. ¶3. (U) Despite Lago's speculation that Portugal will miss this Global Initiative event, he took pains to explain that Portugal fully supports the Global initiative and views it as one of the most important international tools against terrorism. For more reporting from Embassy Lisbon and information about Portugal, please see our Intelink site: http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/portal:port ugal STEPHENSON