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
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