EUR PDAS RIES MEETINGS WITH CZECH OFFICIALS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 PRAGUE 000112 SENSITIVE SIPDIS EUR/ERA WLUCAS, EUR/CE FOR ATRATENSEK E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/26/2014 TAGS: EUN EZ EG PGOV PREL AF PK NATO SUBJECT: EUR PDAS RIES MEETINGS WITH CZECH OFFICIALS REF: A. CARNIE-TURNER E-MAIL DATED 2.26.09 ¶B. CARNIE-DYOKAS E-MAIL DATED 2.24.09 ¶C. PRAGUE 103 ¶D. STATE 15959 ¶E. STATE 15623 ¶F. STATE 14097 Classified By: Deputy POLEC Counselor Martina Strong for reasons 1.4 (b ) and (d). ¶1. (SBU) Summary: On February 25 PDAS Marcie Ries met with Czech officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister Alexandr Vondra's Department for European Policy Coordination. The Czechs welcomed our "consultative approach," particularly with respect to Afghanistan. They also encouraged as much advance coordination as possible before the April U.S.-EU Summit and floated several ideas on possible topics for discussion, including climate change/energy, Afghanistan/Pakistan, the global financial crisis (and what we are doing together to address it, and the Middle East (Ref A). Also of note were Czech comments on: the Western Balkans, Russia, PA President Abbas, and the Transatlantic Economic Council. End Summary. -------------- Afghanistan/Pakistan, NATO Ministerial and Summit -------------- ¶2. (C) Czech MFA Director General for non-European Affairs and Development Assistance Jakub Karfik noted that Afghanistan and Pakistan remain on the agenda of most upcoming EU meetings. Commenting that Afghan President Karzai's hold on power appears fragile, MFA officials noted that Karzai on February 23 told a group of Ambassadors in Kabul that he feared his mandate would not hold beyond May 21 and that he was considering holding the elections on April ¶22. According to Karfik, the European Commission has identified a team of officials to do an assessment of Afghan election preparation needs, and the team plans to visit Afghanistan the last week of March through the first week of April. However, the European Commission timeline was based on the expectation that elections would be held August 20. ¶3. (SBU) Karfik, as well as CFSP Director Vaclav Balek and MFA Deputy Director for Security Policy Petr Chalupecky all welcomed PDAS Ries' comments related to the current USG security policy review on Afghanistan. Ries also expressed USG interest in hearing Czech insights so that by the April NATO summit the Alliance would be prepared to outline our �0A;joint strategy, with the resources to back up this strategy. Ries also cited the upcoming Transatlantic dinner, the NATO Ministerial, and the U.S.-EU Ministerial Troika the first week of March as excellent opportunities for substantive dialogue. The Czechs welcomed this "consultative approach" and Chalupecky commented that the Czechs are putting together a paper for discussion at the March 27-28 Gymnich (EU FM's informal meeting) on ESDP civilian capabilities, with a case study of the EU's efforts in Afghanistan (Ref B). In a separate conversation, MFA CFSP Director Vaclav Balek noted that one problem related to ESDP civilian capabilities is the absence of a standby capability; each time the EU wants to standup a mission, they have to recruit experts from scratch. Chalupecky also commented that issues such as the lack of response from member states, too many caveats, no clear mandate have all hampered the effectiveness of EUPOL. Nonetheless, even if EUPOL were at full strength (400 police),he questioned whether this would be sufficient to address the weaknesses of the Afghan National Police. ¶4. (C) Opining that the situation on the ground in Pakistan may be more complicated even than Afghanistan, Karfik noted that the EU plans to hold a Ministerial Troika with Pakistan on March 13 in Prague. In response to the query of PDAS Ries as to what the EU hopes to accomplish at this Ministerial, Karfik noted that so far the EU has not gone much beyond applauding the democratic election of the civilian government led by Zardari. He noted that while the Pakistan government has commited to fighting terrorism, President Zardari is hamstrung by questions hanging over the sincerity of the support from the military and security services. He also commented that the ministerial agenda is fairly "routine" right now. (Note: In a separate conversation on February 26, PRAGUE 00000112 002 OF 003 British Embassy Political Counselor noted to emboff that an UK FCO visitor is coming to Prague next week to press the Czechs for a more substantive EU-Pakistan troika agenda. End Note.) CFSP Director Balek also noted that the EU was contemplating a "double-hatted" (Afghanistan and Pakistan) EU Special Representative, but that they weren't close to naming an individual at the moment. -------------- The Western Balkans - Kosovo, Bosnia, Serbia and Montenegro -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Montenegro: MFA CFSP Director Balek acknowledged that the EU has been struggling "a lot" with Montenegro's application for EU accession. While the Czechs want to have the European Commission start work on the review of Montenegro's application, they have been blocked by certain EU member states such as the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany (Ref B). They believe that while procedurally they could move forward with a simple majority, they feel that moving forward may not make sense without unanimity in the long term. ¶6. (SBU) Bosnia: With respect to the EUSR candidates to replace Miroslav Lajcak, Balek indicated they are currently in the "silent procedure." Balek acknowledged that the EU is aware that it will be difficult to come to agreement to close the Office of the High Representative (OHR) at the upcoming Peace Implementation Council (PIC) scheduled for March, given USG concerns. The EU hopes to close it soon, however, and Deputy EU Correspondent Magdalena Janesova pointed to the June PIC as the next most reasonable time frame to revisit the topic. Ries made the point that we in the international community will have to be assertive if we want to see progress in Bosnia. Ries also noted the unhelpful comments of Republika Srpska leader Milorad Dodik and the unresolved "legal procedure" related to embezzlement. While unhelpful, Balek commented that the Czechs are more concerned about the handing out of passports in Croatia as potentially more destabilizing to the region. ¶7. (SBU) Croatia: Balek acknowledged progress on Croatian accession remains stymied, particularly because of the border dispute with Slovenia. He noted that he remains unsure whether the EU will be ready to accept Croatia by the summit (Note: He did not reference which particular summit. End Note). A lack of enthusiasm for enlargement, particularly with older member states, has slowed progress on Croatian accession. ¶8. (SBU) Serbia: On the issue of the Serbian Stabilization and Association Agreement, the Czechs noted the Dutch remain steadfast on the need for Serbian compliance with the ICTY before they will support any further movement on the SAA. They also noted that the EU is trying to remain engaged with the pro-European government in Serbia. ¶9. (SBU) Kosovo: Balek commented that things are going "okay" although the EULEX mission is only likely to reach full operational capability around the end of March. Balek also commented that the EU has noticed an improvement in coordination on the ground between ICR Feith and EULEX HOM de Kermabon and that Feith has the full backing of the EU. -------------- March Gymnich Agenda -------------- ¶10. (SBU) Balek noted that the Balkans (particularly Kosovo) will be covered at the March GAERC (March 16-17) and Gymnich (March 27-28). The other items on the Gymnich agenda will be civilian ESDP capabilities, the Middle East, Syria/Iran, and Belarus (within the context of the Eastern Partnership Initiative). -------------- Middle East Issues -------------- ¶11. (C) MFA Director General for non-European Affairs and Development Assistance Jakub Karfik noted that Foreign Minister Schwarzenberg will attend and speak at the March 2 Sharm al-Sheik conference on humanitarian assistance for Gaza. He also noted that during Palestinian Authority President Abbas' visit on February 23, one item that the PRAGUE 00000112 003 OF 003 Czechs found interesting was Abbas' private comments on Binyamin Netanyahu. According to Karfik, President Abbas commented that he believes Netanyahu will be a good partner for the Palestinian Authority because he is pragmatic and reasonable. -------------- Relations with Russia -------------- ¶12. (SBU) Noting that we are also conducting a review of our engagement with Russia, PDAS Ries noted that we are optimistic that there is room to advance the relationship on Counter-Terrorism cooperation, Afghanistan (transit for non-lethal equipment) and the START treaty, which expires in December 2009. Ries also referenced that we continue to talk with the Kyrgyz Republic regarding Manas Air Base. Chalupecky opined that Manas is a "lost cause" as he believes Russia is "pulling their strings;" he also noted that he does not believe they will be helpful on Iran as Russian economic interests do not coincide with our deterrent priorities. In response to PDAS Ries' question about whether the Czechs believe the current economic crisis has influenced Russian policy making, Chalupecky opined that he did not believe it had had much of an effect. His perspective was that the priorities of Russian officials had remained the same, and cited Russian interest in regaining "spheres of influence" in border regions. As a final comment on Russia, Chalupecky told PDAS Ries that the Czechs would hate to be "sacrificed" with respect to missile defense for some nebulous hope of improved U.S. relations with Russia. ¶13. (SBU) In a separate conversation, Balek noted that the EU has now agreed to a May 21-22 EU-Russia Summit in Habarovsk, Russia, which he will help staff. Noting that the Medvedev security initiative has been raised at the OSCE, in addition to other fora, Balek indicated that it's time to clear the air and that there should be a genuine discussion with Russia on security issues. He also referenced the gas crisis, which has been addressed by the EU, although he expressed his view that Ukraine and Russia perhaps colluded on this more than people thought. With the Southern corridor, he thinks it will be tough to pull things together as Putin has made various regional trips and Balek anticipates many of these countries will be reluctant to jeopardize their relationship with Russia. -------------- Czech Support for the TEC -------------- ¶14. (SBU) Karolina Kottova inquired about the Transatlantic Economic Council (TEC) and who would likely lead on behalf of the USG. She urged high-level USG participation and stated that DPM Vondra and Commissioner Verheugen are committed to leading on behalf of the EU. Kottova also indicated the Czechs are interest in perhaps holding the Spring TEC somewhere between May 25-June 10 and that they would like this to make this more of a "strategic dialogue," and move away from specific - often contentious - issues. With respect to possible topics for discussion, she suggested we might want to consider discussing the financial crisis and/or green technology at the TEC. ¶15. (U) PDAS Ries cleared this cable. Thompson-Jones