U.S.-POLAND STRATEGIC COOPERATION - RESPONSE TO

UNCLAS STATE 004079

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: MARR MASS MCAP PL
SUBJECT: U.S.-POLAND STRATEGIC COOPERATION - RESPONSE TO
POLAND'S NON-PAPER


1. (U) This is an action request. Post is requested to
provide to the appropriate officials the text in paragraph 3
as the U.S. response to the Polish Memorandum on Strategic
Cooperation. The text of the original Polish memorandum is
included for reference in paragraph 4.


2. (U) Background: On November 7, Polish Ambassador Kupiecki
presented A/S Fried with a proposal on U.S.-Polish strategic
cooperation. The text included in paragraph 3 below is the
U.S. response to the Polish memorandum.


3. BEGIN TEXT OF U.S. MEMORANDUM

MEMORANDUM ON U.S.-POLISH STRATEGIC COOPERATION

The United States shares Poland's satisfaction with the
signing of the Agreement Between the Government of the United
States of America and the Government of the Republic of
Poland Concerning the Deployment of Ground-Based Ballistic
Missile Defense Interceptors in the Territory of the Republic
of Poland, as well as the issuance of accompanying
Declaration on Strategic Cooperation, as expressed in the
Polish Memorandum of November 7, 2008.

The prospective Missile Defense (MD) deployment constitutes
one element of our broader strategic partnership and the
extensive security cooperation - both bilateral and
multilateral - between our governments. In addition to our
well established security cooperation dating back nearly 20
years, the United States and Poland are negotiating a
bilateral Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) to supplement the
NATO SOFA, cooperating on the modernization of the Polish
Armed Forces, exploring enhanced economic, scientific and
industrial cooperation, deploying and operating jointly in
Afghanistan and elsewhere around the world and otherwise
working to support and improve international security.

The Strategic Dialogue (SD) launched in September 2004
established an ongoing mechanism for high-level consultations
on the full range of bilateral issues. The Strategic
Cooperation Consultative Group (SCCG) began work in February
2008 and was included in the Declaration on Strategic
Cooperation issued in August 2008. The Declaration on
Strategic Cooperation also established the High Level Defense
Group (HLDG) as a forum for DOD-MOD consultations on a wide
range of issues.

Following on the Polish proposal, the United States therefore
envisions the following structure for and relationship
between the SD, SCCG and HLDG, subject to further
consultations and approval by the incoming administration.

STRATEGIC DIALOGUE

The United States agrees with Poland that the Strategic
Dialogue should serve as a forum for regular political
consultations concerning a broad scope of current issues. It
should be co-chaired by the senior officials from the U.S.
Department of State and the Polish Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, with participation as appropriate from other
ministries, departments or agencies on both sides. (The
question of participation by members of either state's
legislative branch, or by individuals or institutions outside
of government, would have to be addressed separately.) The
SD should ideally meet on an annual basis, with each meeting
focused on one agreed broad topic (e.g. new NATO Strategic
Concept, Russia) in all its facets and details. For the
United States, the Assistant Secretary for European Affairs
would chair this group. The State Department's Bureau of
European and Eurasian Affairs would serve as the U.S.
coordinating body for the SD. The United States agrees that
it would be appropriate for the Departm
ent of America of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to serve as
the coordinating institution on the Polish side; the Polish
side will assign the appropriate official as its chair.

The United States believes that the establishment of a
working group on Energy Security should fall under the
auspices of the SD. The United States recognizes the issue
as a high priority both in our bilateral and multilateral
cooperation. This Working Group could also usefully interact
with the existing Commercial Dialogue managed by the U.S.
Department of Commerce and the Polish Ministry of Economy.

STRATEGIC COOPERATION CONSULTATIVE GROUP

The SCCG should serve as a forum for consultations between
the two governments on security topics and defense
cooperation. The United States agrees that the SCCG should
support implementation of the Declaration on Strategic
Cooperation, missile defense agreement, supplemental SOFA,
BMD Framework Agreement, and other related implementing
agreements. The SCCG should be a forum for discussing
defense cooperation between the U.S. and Poland. It should
be co-chaired on the U.S. side by the Under Secretary of
State for Arms Control and International Security and on the
Polish side by the Under Secretary of State from the Polish
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with participation as
appropriate from other ministries, departments or agencies.
The SCCG should meet annually. The SCCG will include a
Working Group on Political Military Cooperation which will
cover issues related to defense cooperation and trade between
the U.S. and Poland. This group will be chaired for the U.S.
by the Assistant Secretary of State for
Political Military Affairs. Other SCCG working groups,
co-chaired by representatives of the appropriate institutions
from each side, could meet as appropriate.

A Non-Proliferation Working Group (NPWG) and Counter
Terrorism Working Group (CTWG) should fall under the auspices
of the SCCG. The NPWG would be led on the U.S. side by the
State Department's Bureau of International Security and
Nonproliferation. The CTWG would be led on the U.S. side by
the Office of the State Department's Coordinator for
Counter-Terrorism.

HIGH LEVEL DEFENSE GROUP

The High Level Defense Group (HLDG) will serve as a channel
of dialogue between the U.S. Department of Defense and the
Polish Ministry of Defense. The HLDG would be co-chaired by
a U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense and the appropriate
counterpart from the Polish Ministry of Defense. The HLDG
should also meet annually, ideally following the most recent
Strategic Dialogue. It will also be a venue for discussing
defense cooperation and defense-related issues as well as
address operational issues of cooperation between the U.S.
and Polish defense establishments. The structure of the HLDG
will be determined through consultations between the U.S. DOD
and the Polish MOD.

TIMETABLE AND RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE SD, SCCG AND HLDG

The United States agrees with the goal of holding the next
meeting of the SCCG if at all possible before or following
the February NATO Defense Ministerial in Krakow. The next
Strategic Dialogue could be held after February.

END TEXT OF U.S. MEMORANDUM


4. (U) The text of the November 13 Polish Memorandum on
Strategic Cooperation is included below for reference.

BEGIN TEXT OF POLISH MEMORANDUM:

MEMORANDUM ON POLISH-US STRATEGIC COOPERATION

Poland expresses great satisfaction at the signing with the
United States on August 20 2008 of the Agreement on the
deployment in the RP of an interceptor base, constituting
part of the American Missile Defense System (MD),and the
adoption by the two states of the Declaration on Strategic
Cooperation. We are confident that the deployment of elements
of the MD on our territory will strengthen the security of
Poland, the U.S. and the entire Transatlantic area,
permitting effective defense against missile threats,
including those involving weapons of mass destruction.

Cooperation between Poland and the United States in the
sphere of missile defense and modernization of the Polish
Armed Forces, augmented with economic, scientific and
industrial cooperation, opens a new chapter in the history of
Polish-American strategic partnership. The enhanced
cooperation between the two states points to the desirability
of reviving the Polish-US formula of Strategic Dialog,
launched in 2004, and the elaboration of an agenda for the
Strategic Cooperation Consultative Group - SCCG.

WITH REGARD TO THE STRATEGIC DIALOG, we propose the following:

(1) The Strategic Dialog should serve as a forum for regular
political consultations concerning a broad scope of current
international security problems (security structure);

(2) Every meeting of the Strategic Dialog, beside a short
general session, should include detailed, multifaceted
discussion on a selected topic agreed on by the Parties
(e.g., situation within NATO, relations with Russia). That
formula would permit a thorough debate on the given problem,
its consequences, possible options for its resolution,
potential initiatives, etc.,

(3) Strategic Dialog meetings should take place once a year;

(4) The meetings would be held at a high level (MFA of the RP
- U.S. State Department),and in the event of a concurrence
with other visits - at an even higher level;

(5) The composition of the delegations would be very
flexible, providing for the inclusion of representatives of
various government institutions, parliamentarians and NGO
representatives.

The coordinating institution of the Strategic Dialog on the
Polish side would be the Department of America of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

WITH REGARD TO THE SCCG, the Polish side proposes the
following:

(1) The SCCG should be a forum for a regular exchange of
views and consultations on matters relating to bilateral
cooperation in the sphere of security and cooperation;

(2) The SCCG should support the fulfillment of the
Declaration on Strategic Cooperation, the Agreement on the MD
base, and other accords (e.g., SOFA Supplemental, Framework
agreement on economic, scientific and technological
cooperation) and implementing agreements;

(3) The SCCG should be a forum for reviewing and long-term
programming of cooperation relating to the modernization of
the Polish Armed Forces (assessment of reports by the
High-Level Defense Group);

(4) The SCCG should be a forum for supporting and determining
the directions of development of economic and
scientific-technological cooperation and defense industry
cooperation;

(5) SCCG meetings should take two or three times year (as
needed);

(6) SCCG meetings should take place at the level of
under-secretaries of state of the MFA and the DOS and of the
Ministry of National Defense of the RP and the U.S.
Department of Defense;

(7) The SCCG should remain a forum on an intergovernmental
character.

The Coordinating institution on the Polish side would be the
Department of Security Policy of the MFA, in collaboration
with the MOD.

The Declaration on Strategic Cooperation of August 20, 2008,
provides explicitly for the establishment of the HIGH-LEVEL
DEFENSE GROUP (HLDG),as a sub-group of the SCCG.
Furthermore, the Polish side proposes the establishment of
the following bodies:

(1) Working Group on WMD Nonproliferation, on the basis on
the existent though inactive Group. It would ensure closer
bilateral cooperation and better coordination in
international forums, including the Krakow (PSI) Initiative.

(2) Working Group on Terrorist Threats and Intelligence
Cooperation: its establishment could take place after a
possible absorption of the Group operating under the auspices
of the Ministry of Interior and Administration and the U.S.
Embassy in the RP (after prior consultations with both
institutions).

(3) Working group on scientific-technological, industrial and
economic cooperation, including space cooperation: with
regard to the Framework Agreement on economic and
scientific-technological cooperation, the Group could
initially supports the process of the related negotiations
and, subsequently, the implementation of the Agreement. It
could also promote joint projects and facilitate contacts
between research-development centers in the two countries.
With regard to technological-industrial cooperation, the
group would be tasked with deepening cooperation in the
sphere of research and development, defense production and
the eradication of possible obstacles encountered by the
Polish and American defense industry companies.

(4) Working group on energy security: the group could
constitute a forum for detailed dialog with the US on the
respective aspects of energy security. It could also provide
consulting and support for Poland's diversification projects
(e.g., in Central Asia and the Middle East),promotion of
direct U.S. investments in Poland and joint ventures in third
markets.

TIMETABLE OF SCCG AND STRATEGIC DIALOGUE COOPERATION:

Poland proposes that the next SCCG meeting be held between
the meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels in December
2008 and the meeting of NATO defense ministers in Krakow in
February 2009. We want it to be devoted to an exchange of
opinions and an attempt to elaborate the framework of future
strategic cooperation, based on the Declaration on Strategic
Cooperation of August 20 2008.

Furthermore, we feel that a Strategic Dialog meeting should
be held next year and be devoted to the new strategic concept
of NATO.

END TEXT OF POLISH MEMORANDUM
RICE