PORTUGAL LOOKS TO SHAPE PROCEDURE, NOT POLICY, IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L LISBON 000075 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR G, DRL, EUR/WE E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/02/2019 TAGS: PHUM PREL KDEM PO SUBJECT: PORTUGAL LOOKS TO SHAPE PROCEDURE, NOT POLICY, IN COMMUNITY OF DEMOCRACIES' LEADERSHIP REF: 08 LISBON 2718 Classified By: Dana M. Brown, Pol-Econ Officer, Embassy Lisbon Reason 1.4 (b) and (d) Summary -------------- ¶1. (SBU) On January 29, Portuguese DCM to Washington Paula Cepeda offered a readout of the January 23 Community of Democracies' (CD) "troika" meeting in Lisbon that included Portuguese FM Luis Amado, Lithuanian FM Vygaudas Usackas, Secretary General Al-Maamoun Baba Lamine Keita from Mali, and Executive Director of the CD's Secretariat Bronislaw Misztal. Cepeda told us that the GOP will focus on establishing new procedural rules over the next several months governing troika meetings, the CD's new democracy award competition, policy declarations, and the Convening Group membership before handing the leadership over to Lithuania in July. She also noted that Portugal and the other troika leaders were looking for signs of continued interest in the CD organization by the Obama Administration before making "big moves." The Portuguese embassy in Washington will host the next CD meeting on February 9, and the MFA will host a discussion with civil society on March 23-24. Although Portugal will put together an organized agenda, the Lisbon Ministerial, as previewed by FM Amado, is likely to underwhelm participants with procedural changes rather than a policy dialogue on democracy. End summary. Portugal takes Charge on Awards and Titles -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Portuguese DCM in Washington Paula Cepeda, visiting Lisbon, offered a readout of the January 23 CD "troika" discussions between Mali, Portugal, Lithuania, and the CD's Secretariat. Participants agreed that the CD troika should meet every two years to improve continuity between leaderships. Amado announced that the MFA would host a seminar on March 23-24 to promote a government-civil society dialogue on the Ministerial's modified theme: "New Challenges to Democratic Governance: the Impact of the Global Economic and Financial Crisis." Repeating Deputy DG Antonio Ricoca Freire's point in November (reftel),Cepeda stressed that the GOP and other members were looking for a sign that the Community of Democracies would be important to the new US Administration. ¶3. (SBU) Cepeda mentioned some problems with the CD's new democracy-promotion award, the Geremek prize. The Geremek family wants final approval of the award recipient, and Secretariat Director Misztal offered to represent the family in the final decisions during the troika meeting, but Cepeda said the GOP was reluctant to grant the Secretariat veto power over its decisions. (Note: The award is named for Bronislaw Geremek, the Polish activist and politician. The CD's Warsaw-based Secretariat feels some kinship with the Geremek family.) Other troika members agreed to postpone deciding on the nomination and selection process until the next Convening Group meeting on February 9 at the Portuguese embassy in Washington. Cepeda mentioned that Portugal would be looking for US support to have the Secretariat participate in, but not lead, the award decision process. She added that the GOP would establish a selection committee with one representative from each of the regional groups. Cepeda anticipated that the selection committee would select a winner by June. She told us that Portugal was open to the US suggestion of allowing each CD chair decide how much to award future Geremek recipients. The prize is currently worth 50,000 euros. Secretariat Wants Some Ownership -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Executive Director Misztal eagerly offered to have the Secretariat host the CD's tenth anniversary celebration and coordinate a separate democracy seminar series in Warsaw. Cepeda confessed that the GOP had to rein in the Secretariat on the anniversary offer since that would be Lithuania's right to host as incoming CD Convening Group Chair. Nevertheless, Amado did welcome the Secretariat's initiative on the seminar series and requested that Misztal prepare suggestions for tasks that could be assigned to the CD working groups. Since assuming leadership in 2007, the GOP has been frustrated by the undefined mandate of the working groups and has largely ignored them as a result. Ministerial Preparations -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Cepeda said the next CD Convening Group meeting on February 9 will cover four issues: (1) Begin an invitation list for the Lisbon Ministerial, (2) Confirm which nation will assume the CD Chair after Lithuania in 2011; (3) Establish a rotation of Convening Group members to allow for one replacement from each region every two years; and (4) Reach consensus on how to vet CD declarations more effectively with the Convening Group. On the last point, Cepeda acknowledged the difficulty of approving joint CD statements on democratic situations due to individual national sensitivities within the Convening Group. She mentioned the possibility of using a consensus model to discuss the issue generally, and a majority vote to pass the specific text. ¶6. (SBU) The Lisbon Ministerial, scheduled for July 10-11, overlaps with the G8 Summit in Sardinia by one day and, despite Italian and US encouragement, Cepeda told us that FM Amado had not mentioned the conflict during the meeting. The subsequent public statement confirmed the July 10-11 dates are still operative. As a work-around, Cepeda suggested that participants could travel from Italy to participate on July 11 in final discussions. Comment: Good News/ Bad News -------------- ¶7. (C) Comment: Cepeda's briefing reaffirmed that the GOP is moving forward with Lisbon Ministerial preparations but unlikely to establish a more inspiring or ambitious agenda. The Portuguese MFA was largely inactive during its first year of CD leadership and, as a result, is assembling new procedures and awards as the centerpieces at the Ministerial. The new Ministerial topic on the economic crisis, while timely and interesting, is more likely to rehash discussions from international economic fora than advance democracy issues, where the CD has expertise. Portugal's unwillingness to move the date condemns the event to low attendance and/or low-level representation from key countries; in sum, it is disappointing that Portuguese expectations are so low six months out. Given its experiences with EU presidencies and the EU-Africa Summit in 2007, the Portuguese MFA should be able to pull off a respectable ministerial, even given the short time that remains, but the Portuguese are not exactly swinging for the fences. End comment. STEPHENSON