AUSTRIAN VIEWS IN ADVANCE OF THE GAERC

					  C O N F I D E N T I A L VIENNA 001378 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/ERA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/22/2019 
TAGS: EUN PGOV PREL AU
SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN VIEWS IN ADVANCE OF THE GAERC 
 
REF: 10/17/09 EUR/ERA EMAIL 
 
Classified by: Economic-Political Counselor J. Dean Yap for 
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
					

1. (U) Polchief met October 21 with Klaus Famira, MFA
European Correspondent, to deliver ref email points and
discuss the October 26-27 GAERC. Famira offered the
following views:



2. (U) Afghanistan: GAERC participants will discuss the
post-election political environmental and how the EU can
prepare for the second round of elections. A key element
will be the question of whether the EU will have an observer
mission for the second round.



3. (C) EU-Syria Association Agreement: The Association
Agreement with Syria has been removed from the agenda.
Famira said the Syrian Government has backed out of the
Agreement in protest over an EU decision to raise human
rights concerns in the signing statement. The EU drafted the
signing statement in order to overcome Dutch objections that
the Agreement did not address human rights.



4. (U) Pakistan: The consensus within the EU is that the
increased level of EU aid for Pakistan is beginning to have
an effect. The EU at the GAERC will discuss what additional
measures could be taken to bolster the Pakistani economy.



5. (U) Bosnia: Representatives at the GAERC will discuss the
transition from the OHR to the EUSR. The GOA favors a quick
transition and does not believe constitutional reform should
be a prerequisite for the transition.



6. (U) Albanian EU Candidacy: Participants will discuss
whether to forward Albania's EU accession bid to the European
Commission. The GOA views this as a technical issue and
believes the matter should be forwarded to the Commission
without delay, but Germany is reluctant to support that view
and it is unlikely that a decision would be made at next
week's GAERC.



7. (U) Sri Lanka: Relations between the EU and the Sri Lankan
Government have deteriorated as the Government has failed to
address the humanitarian crisis faced by some 280,000 IDPs in
Sri Lanka. GAERC participants will discuss the crisis and
what is perceived as the Sri Lankan Government's increasingly
authoritarian approach.



8. (U) Moldova: Representatives will discuss the option of
providing emergency financial support to Moldova. The EU is
concerned about the financial crisis in Moldova, and could
make its aid package available more quickly than the IMF and
World Bank assistance currently in the pipeline.
HOH