SPAIN SUPPORTS FUTURE RESTRUCTURING OF EUFOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L MADRID 001118 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/23/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL EU BK SP SUBJECT: SPAIN SUPPORTS FUTURE RESTRUCTURING OF EUFOR REF: SECSTATE 118244 Classified By: ADCM William H. Duncan for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) On November 18 during High Level Defense Committee talks in Madrid, Spanish Secretary General for Defense Policy Luis Cuesta told DASD Jim Townsend that "Spain will stay in Althea until the end of the operation" and maintain its 15 percent troop share. When pressed about the potential transition of the mission, Cuesta assured Townsend that Spain would not undertake a unilateral withdrawal. ¶2. (C) The U.S. side had the lead on the Balkans agenda item, and Townsend expressed U.S. concerns about potential future conflict or escalation of ethnic tensions (reftel). Cuesta said that for Spain, the future of the Balkans was regional integration, and that the potential to join NATO and/or the EU would be the greatest incentive to reform and set aside differences. He countered Townsend,s concerns by saying that the Dayton accords had kept Bosnia calm and stable and disagreed, based on Chacon,s October visit to Sarajevo, that a transition of the EU mission could "spark something." ¶3. (C) Cuesta echoed public statements by Defense Minister Chacon that Operation Althea had achieved all of its military objectives and held that remaining problems should be solved politically. During its EU presidency, Spain will support transforming EUFOR into a technical assistance and training mission. Though he assured the U.S. delegation that Spain would remain involved, Cuesta hoped that EU members would agree on a "temporal horizon," looking specifically toward October 2010 elections in Bosnia. ¶4. (C) Comment: The latest Defense Ministry figures indicating troop levels (dated November 13) shows 265 Spanish forces under EUFOR plus 37 Guardia Civil. Chacon announced September 20 on Spanish radio that Spanish troops would return from the mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina "as soon as possible," not later than 2010. Cuesta,s comments suggest Spain would seek EU consensus for such a position. End Comment. CHACON