AMBASSADOR RICE MEETS WITH EU PRESIDENCY CZECH

C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 000061 SIPDIS DEPT FOR IO/PSC, IO/EDA, IO/RHS, EUR/WE, DRL/MLA E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/18/2019 TAGS: SOCI PHUM ECON PARM UNGA SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR RICE MEETS WITH EU PRESIDENCY CZECH PERMREP PALOUS Classified By: AMBASSADOR SUSAN E. RICE; FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D) ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. Ambassador Rice discussed ways to strengthen EU - U.S. cooperation in the UN context with Czech Permrep Ambassador Martin Palous January 28, including institutionalizing both high-level and working level contacts, in order to promote agreement on issues of common concern. Ambassador Palous enunciated the EU'S priorities as: the economy, energy, and external relations. Ambassador Rice noted four areas for further collaboration: peacekeeping; climate change; non-proliferation; and economic development/poverty reduction. END SUMMARY. CLOSER U.S.-EU COOPERATION -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Ambassador Palous urged improved communications between the EU and U.S. earlier in the process of grappling with UN issues, in order to maximize coordination of views and U.S. input into the formation of EU joint positions. To this end he proposed holding a luncheon for the PermReps of all 27 EU members plus the U.S., to be preceeded by a U.S.-EU Troika meeting to work out an agenda for the luncheon, as well as more informal expert-level contacts. Ambassador Palous expressed hope that such contacts would send a strong, positive signal of good will to find convergent views, and specific areas for follow-up. He hoped to find a balance between Brussels-based issues and NY-led issues, noting that Brussels sometimes did not have an accurate sense of how EU actions were perceived at the UN. Ambassador Rice agreed to deepen the level of contacts, starting with a Troika meeting and EU-U.S. luncheon. EU PRIORITIES -------------- ¶3. (C) Turning to the three EU priority areas of the economy, energy and external relations, Ambassador Palous cautioned that President of the General Assembly (PGA) D'Escoto would try to maneuver the upcoming, post-Doha, high-level conference on the effects of the financial crisis on development onto a radical "Sandinista" track. He suggested the EU and U.S. coordinate our approaches to keep the focus on results and to stress that the G-20, rather than the GA, would be a more suitable venue for such discussions. Ambassador Rice suggested looking for opportunities for the EU and U.S. to cooperate with developing countries and with the UN to take the development agenda forward, going beyond reports and words to concrete achievements. ¶4. (SBU) On energy, Palous remarked that climate change was included in that topic, and expressed hope that President Obama would be able to take part in a "mini-summit" in spring 2009, leading up to the Copenhagen conference on climate change in December. Ambassador Rice expressed interest in working with the EU, on a regular basis as well as at any potential mini-summit, to advance the climate change agenda at the UN. She noted that the U.S. was working on domestic legislation dealing with climate change issues, and that Todd Stern had been appointed by Secretary Clinton on January 26 as the Special Envoy on climate change. ¶5. (C) EU attention to external relations, Palous said, encompassed not only the trans-atlantic relationship, but also the Mediterranean Basin (of particular interest to France and the southern tier of EU states) and the "eastern partnership" with Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Moldova and others. Palous repeatedly stressed that the EU did not intend to antagonize Russia through the eastern partnership, but that it was important to the former Communist states in the EU to be able to support the small nations in the "neighborhood." PEACEKEEPING AND R2P -------------- ¶6. (C) Ambassador Rice pointed out that the credibility of the Security Council is damaged by the trend of asking the UN to take on more peacekeeping responsibilities than it has the capacity to do. This is especially the case in Darfur and DRC, she noted, and ways to bridge the gap between demands and capabilities need to be found. She cautioned against creating an overly ambitious new mandate for peacekeeping operations, such as in Somalia. Ambassador Palous asked whether the U.S. position on the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) might evolve and converge with the EU position in time for an upcoming debate in the General Assembly. Ambassador Rice expressed strong support for the concept of R2P, but noted the need for a political assessment of how to advance R2P without creating more hostility and divisiveness within the UN membership. Palous agreed it would be best to build towards results instead of rhetoric on R2P. NON-PROLIFERATION -------------- ¶7. (SBU) In addition to the potential for greater cooperation on peacekeeping, climate change and development already discussed above, Ambassador Rice also mentioned non-proliferation as an area where the EU and U.S. could work together. She expressed concern that Iran might chair the NPT review conference, and suggested the U.S. and EU work out a common agenda to advance our joint goals at the PrepCom and review conference. DURBAN REVIEW CONFERENCE -------------- ¶8. (C) Ambassador Rice sought Palous' assessment of whether there were any prospects for amending the Durban outcome document, and what the EU position was likely to be. Palous responded that the EU was split, with the Czech Republic, Netherlands and others considering non-participation, and others, such as Finland, keen to find ways to participate. He drew an analogy to the EU position on Palestinian issues, where the EU is eager to play the role of broker and not be cut out of the process. Palous, personally, was skeptical that adequate change could be made to the Durban document to make it acceptable. Rice