GUIDANCE: DRAFT NATO-UAE AGREEMENT ON AWACS BASING

C O N F I D E N T I A L STATE 077702 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/24/2019 TAGS: AE AF MOPS NATO PREL SUBJECT: GUIDANCE: DRAFT NATO-UAE AGREEMENT ON AWACS BASING REF: A. USNATO 318 ¶B. USNATO 315 Classified By: EUR DAS Stuart Jones for reasons: 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C/REL TO NATO) Washington accepts for discussion the draft MOU text (ref A) with the addition of a new Article 2 on Scope (see Paragraph 2). All subsequent paragraphs should be renumbered accordingly. In addition, all references to the signatory Parties should have a capital letter P. ¶2. (C/REL TO NATO) This change to Article 2 (Scope) states that any bilateral status of forces agreement will have precedence over this MOU. This means that U.S. nationals associated with a NATO deployment would be covered by our bilateral arrangement with the UAE. Including this revised Article 2 text should be considered a red line for the USG -- USNATO should not accept any modification or deletion of this input without a further round of review and guidance from Washington. Washington understands that this draft MOU is only the beginning of discussions on the legal framework to support the basing of NATO AWACS in UAE and that no final decisions are expected at the Political Committee on July 27. BEGIN PROPOSED TEXT OF ARTICLE 2: Article (2) Scope The provisions of the present Agreement shall define the privileges, immunities and exemptions regarding NATO forces and NATO personnel present in the territory of the UAE operating under NATO command and control arrangements in the absence of a bilateral agreement between the UAE and a NATO Member State or non-NATO contributing State. Such existing or future bilateral agreements between the UAE and a NATO Member State or non-NATO contributing State shall take precedence over the present Agreement. To the extent that the provisions of the present Agreement conflict with the provisions of any such existing and future bilateral agreements, the terms contained in such bilateral agreements shall take precedence. END TEXT ¶3. (SBU) This message has been cleared by JCS, OSD, and State. CLINTON