HCOC - RESPONDING TO HUNGARY'S REQUEST FOR INPUT

UNCLAS STATE 039730 SENSITIVE C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (SENSITIVE CAPTION ADDED) SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: MTCRE PREL MNUC KSCA ETTC TSPA SUBJECT: HCOC - RESPONDING TO HUNGARY'S REQUEST FOR INPUT ON PROPOSED HCOC OUTREACH REF: BUDAPEST 310 ¶1. (U) This is an action request. Please see paras 3 and 4. ¶2. (SBU) Background: Ref reports Hungary's plans - as chair of the Hague Code of Conduct Against Ballistic Missile Proliferation (HCOC) - to reach out to a number of countries, including Iran, China, India, Pakistan, and Brazil in order to explain the purpose, importance and objectives of the HCOC. Before initiating this outreach, the GOH has asked whether the United States would have any objections to these proposed discussions - particularly those with Iran. Hungary also provided a draft of the non-paper it plans to use in this outreach activity. ¶3. (SBU) Action request: Request that Embassy Budapest advise appropriate GOH officials that the United States does not object to their proposed HCOC outreach activities, as universal subscription is one of the goals of the HCOC. We would, however, suggest deleting from the GOH non-paper the paragraph that begins, "The International Code of Conduct Against Ballistic Missile Proliferation was launched on 25 November 2002 in The Hague. All member States of the United Nations, except Iraq, were invited to subscribe to the Code and attend the Launching Conference." While it is factual that Iraq was not invited to subscribe to the HCOC at the time of its founding, this is not relevant to current outreach efforts. We would also recommend deleting the paragraph that begins, "Despite the large number of participants at the Code's inauguration, several countries with significant missile technology, such as Brazil, People's Republic of China, DPRK, Egypt, India, Indonesia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mexico and Pakistan did not join." Not all of these countries (i.e., Mexico and Indonesia) possess significant ballistic missile technology. More importantly, some of these countries (including Brazil, which is an MTCR member) may object to being listed in a category that includes countries of acute proliferation concern, and grouping these countries together may therefore not be conducive to promoting subscription. In the context of the GOH's outreach to Iran specifically, Post should urge the GOH - in its national capacity - to convey to Iran that it should not miss the opportunity to engage seriously with the United States and the international community through the P5 1 process. ¶4. (U) Post should convey Washington's appreciation for Hungary's close cooperation with the United States on HCOC and missile nonproliferation issues, and note that we look forward to hearing the results of Hungary's outreach at the annual HCOC meeting in Vienna. ¶5. (U) Please contact ISN/MTR's John Paul Herrmann with any questions or follow-up issues related to this case (202-647-1430 - herrmannjp@state.sgov.gov or herrmannjp2@state.gov) and slug reporting on this issue for ISN/MTR. CLINTON