AUSTRIAN MFA ON AFGHANISTAN AND PAKISTAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L VIENNA 000359 SIPDIS DEPT. FOR SCA/A REOTT; EUR.RPM COPE; EUR/ERA WEISFIELD E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/24/2024 TAGS: PREL NATO AFDB AU SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MFA ON AFGHANISTAN AND PAKISTAN REF: (A) STATE 28929 (B) VIENNA 306 Classified By: Charge' d'Affaires Scott Kilner. Reason: 1.4(b) and (d) . ¶1. (C) Charge' called on Austrian MFA Political Director Stefan Lehne March 26 to review reftel points, stressing that given its role in the Security Council, Austrian action would draw particular attention. ¶2. (C) On Afghanistan, Lehne reported that internal GoA discussions were moving ahead with respect to support for police training. He noted that at a March 24 meting, FonMin Spindelegger, whom he described as quite engaged on the issue, and Interior Minister Fekter had reached (unspecified) agreement, but that talks continue with the Ministry of Justice. Such training would have to take place outside Afghanistan, Lehne acknowledged, and would be linked to efforts by other EU states. ¶3. (C) Lehne also noted that the Foreign Ministry had turned around an initially negative GoA response to UNSYG Ban Ki Moon's appeal for demining support. In addition, he said that talks were continuing on hosting a conference on "state building" in Afghanistan (Ref B, para 5),although he gave the impression that little progress was being made; the event might happen in late spring, but only if "a credible partner" could be found. ¶4. (C) On Pakistan, Lehne had little to offer. He said that the EU had just begun to focus on Pakistan and had a less developed understanding of priorities than was the case with Afghanistan. Thus, there would be little concrete Austria could do. The GoA did support the idea of an EU-Pakistan Summit and was generally open-minded. Within the EU, he added, there were differences of opinion on whether a Free Trade Agreement was desirable, and a general sense that Pakistan would be a very big challenge given the EU's limited resources. KILNER