POLAND WELCOMES TRILATERAL MIDDLE EAST MEETING

C O N F I D E N T I A L WARSAW 001005 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/CE (GLANTZ) AND NEA E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/28/2019 TAGS: PREL PGOV KPAL IS PL SUBJECT: POLAND WELCOMES TRILATERAL MIDDLE EAST MEETING REF: STATE 99834 Classified By: Political Counselor F. Daniel Sainz for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) GoP officials were pleased that U.S., Israeli, and Palestinian leaders met last week. Although the Poles discerned little progress, they saw the symbolic talks as establishing a precedent for more detailed discussions in coming months and, more importantly, demonstrating a renewed U.S. commitment to the Middle East Peace Process (MEPP). So concluded Ambassador Witold Smidowski, the MFA's Coordinator for Israel, Palestinian, and MEPP Affairs. Smidowski, who completed a six-year ambassadorial stint in Tehran last year, added that Poland would continue to do whatever it could to support MEPP efforts in the UN, EU or, if appropriate, bilaterally. At a minimum, it was important that the major players coordinate their positions and maintain pressure on both Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) to reach an agreement. However, Smidowski said only the U.S. could exert sufficient influence on the Israelis to extract concessions, especially cessation of settlement construction. ¶2. (C) Smidowski said Poland will soon provide law enforcement training to members of the PA police and border guard service. The plan has been under discussion for almost two years, but the final elements are falling into place, and the GoP hopes to complete the project by the end of 2009. ¶3. (C) Looking ahead, the Ambassador said the GoP's approach to the Middle East was going through a transition. Poles will focus more on relations with the Gulf States, partly because the majority of governments in this sub-region are relatively moderate and partly because of the economic and energy opportunities for Poland. But Smidowski assured us that Warsaw would not neglect relations with Tel Aviv. To this end, Smidowski said Deputy Prime Minister Waldemar Pawlak, Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, and Sejm Speaker Bronislaw Komorowski would all be making separate trips to Israel by the end of the year. Sikorski, at least, will also visit Palestinian territory. In addition, PM Donald Tusk will visit Saudi Arabia and Qatar in October or November. TULLEY