ENGAGING NORWAY ON AFGHANISTAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L OSLO 000132

SIPDIS

SCA/A TOM REOTT AND EUR/RPM AARON COPE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/27/2019
TAGS: NATO PREL MOPS MARR NO
SUBJECT: ENGAGING NORWAY ON AFGHANISTAN

REF: A. A:STATE 15623

B. B:OSLO 123

Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Kevin M. Johnson
for reasons 1.4 b and d

1.(C) Summary: February 27 Norwegian MFA Political Director
Vegard Ellefson told DCM that the GON appreciated the U.S.
outreach and interest in allied opinions on the new Afghan
strategy. The Administration,s rapid appointment of Special
Representative Holbrooke was an excellent start and Ellefson
encouraged consultations between Holbrooke and NATO. He also
urged Holbrooke work with Kai Eide to find common ground on
how to make UNAMA more robust. Consultations between
Holbrooke and Eide on the overall strategy would be a welcome
sign of support for the UN role. Deputy Foreign Minister
Johansen will visit Afghanistan in early March and would be
glad to give U.S. officials a read-out of his visit. End
Summary

2.(C) Ellefson also liked the U.S. regional approach to
Afghanistan and Pakistan. He noted that Norway is the only
Nordic country with a development program in Pakistan. While
he appreciated the need to address the Pakistani border area,
he cautioned that we should be careful not to overstretch
ISAF and not to overstep the UN Security Council mandates.
Ellefson pointed out that a regional approach also highlights
the importance of other actors such as India and Iran. On
the latter, he asked that the U.S. consider whether Norway
and its connections to Iran could be used in a constructive
way. However, he was careful to note that Norway will not be
charting its own course with regard to Iran.

3.(C) Responding to the specifics in reftel, Ellefson said
that the GON generally supports the concept of the ANA Trust
Fund, but felt that NATO is not set up to deal with this
well. However, he agreed that there has been much discussion
of general points and the Summit is the time to make
decisions on the trust fund and other issues. The ambitious
nature of the numbers and the administrative burden does give
him pause. Overall, Norway is keen to promote Afghanization
and believes these ideas will support that effort. Finally,
referring to some talk about a Contact Group, Ellefson
stressed that Norway would want to be a part of that if it
were to come to pass. He pointed out that Afghanistan is the
largest recipient of Norwegian aid.


4. (C) We also delivered reftel to the Norwegian Chief of
Defense and to the MOD's security policy and Afghanistan
sections. Defense officials echoed Ellefsen's appreciation
of the outreach effort. They did not have immediate comments
on the contents of the demarche but have indicated in
previous meetings, including the February 13 visit of
Department of State SCA DAS Patrick Moon (reftel B),that
they are actively considering how the Norwegian contributions
to the ISAF mission can be improved and continued.
WHITNEY