Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09WARSAW22
2009-01-08 15:27:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Warsaw
Cable title:  

CODEL TAUSCHER VISIT TO POLAND

Tags:  OREP PREL MARR MCAP NATO PL CZ RS 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO2345
OO RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHNP RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHWR #0022/01 0081527
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 081527Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY WARSAW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7573
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO PRIORITY 0196
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 WARSAW 000022 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/08/2018
TAGS: OREP PREL MARR MCAP NATO PL CZ RS
SUBJECT: CODEL TAUSCHER VISIT TO POLAND

Classified By: DCM Quanrud for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 WARSAW 000022

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/08/2018
TAGS: OREP PREL MARR MCAP NATO PL CZ RS
SUBJECT: CODEL TAUSCHER VISIT TO POLAND

Classified By: DCM Quanrud for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: CODEL Tauscher emphasized to Polish
interlocutors December 17 that the U.S. remained committed to
missile defense (MD),but insisted that the long-range
component must be realistically tested and certified
effective before deployment. In the meantime, Tauscher said
Congress would continue to appropriate funds for short- and
medium range MD systems like THAAD, Aegis, and Patriot
(PAC-3); longer range programs could be integrated later.
Tauscher said she had told Russian officials during her
preceding visit to Moscow that the GoR should not perceive
technical delays in MD deployment as diminished U.S. support
for MD. She also solicited suggestions on how the U.S. and
Poland could demonstrate their close security ties.


2. (C) Polish officials welcomed Tauscher's message. The
Sejm Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee Chairmen assured
the CODEL that the Ballistic Missile Defense Agreement (BMDA)
would be ratified easily when the supporting agreements are
concluded, and the Foreign Affairs Chairman reiterated GoP
interest in acquiring Patriot missiles. Tauscher assured
parliamentarians from the Slupsk area that the U.S. remained
committed to a land-based mid-course MD system although
construction might not be based on previous timelines. The
Prime Minister's Political Cabinet Chief Slawomir Nowak
enthusiastically agreed with Tauscher,s comments on the need
for NATO allies to address the short- and medium-range
ballistic missile (S/MRBM) threat presented by Iran, as well
as the threat posed by longer range missiles. Nowak also
agreed that the U.S. and Poland should continue to engage
Russia in confidence-building measures, but he asserted that
MD development should move forward without regard to Russian
rhetoric. CODEL's meeting with Foreign Minister Sikorski and
Deputy Defense Minister Komorowski reported septel. END
SUMMARY.


3. (SBU) Representative Ellen Tauscher (D-CA),Chairman of
the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces of the House Armed

Services Committee, led a bipartisan delegation to Warsaw
December 16-17 for talks with Polish officials and elected
representatives on MD, the status of transatlantic relations,
NATO, and Russia. The visit to Warsaw immediately followed
the CODEL's stop in Moscow. CODEL Tauscher met with FM
Sikorski, members of the Sejm Defense and Foreign Affairs
Committees, local parliamentarians from the Slupsk region
(site of the proposed interceptor base),and the Head of the
Prime Minister's Political Cabinet.

///////////////////////////////////////////// ////
LEGISLATORS WELCOME CONTINUED U.S. SUPPORT FOR MD
///////////////////////////////////////////// ////


4. (C) Janusz Zemke and Krzystof Lisek, Chairmen of the
Defense and Foreign Affairs Committees, respectively,
welcomed Tauscher's message of continued U.S. support for MD
and assured the U.S. delegation that the Polish parliament
would easily ratify the BMDA. Zemke noted that three of the
four political parties currently represented in the Sejm
(Poland's lower house of parliament),equating to about 400
of the body's 460 members, and virtually the entire Senate
favored BMDA ratification. Robert Tyszkiewicz of the Foreign
Affairs Committee underscored that the decisive argument in
favor of Polish support for MD was the value of the
transatlantic link to the U.S., which was crucial in building
a Western consensus to deflect Russian pressure.


5. (C) After describing increasing Polish defense spending --
consistent annual expenditures at the rate of 1.95% of a
growing GDP -- Zemke asked how the financial crisis might
affect U.S. MD funding. Tauscher assured him that the
Democratic Congress would continue to approve funds for MD.
She emphasized, however, that the U.S. would revert to the
traditional "fly before you buy" rule of only purchasing
proven systems; the effectiveness of the MD system would have
to be certified by the Secretary of Defense. Tauscher added
that she had made clear to Russian officials that an MD
system will eventually be deployed in Poland, but it will not
be aimed at Russia.


6. (C) Lisek said Warsaw was interested in acquiring the
Patriot missile system. Tauscher replied that she favored
deployment of the PAC-III system in Poland but acknowledged
funding constraints in both countries. She said the U.S.,
with support from NATO allies, including Poland, should
concentrate on the development of short- and medium-range MD
systems like PAC-III, THAAD and Aegis and eventually

WARSAW 00000022 002 OF 003


integrate longer-range MD programs after they had been fully
tested and certified. Representative Doug Lamborn (R-CO)
reinforced Tauscher's view that long-range MD systems should
be thoroughly vetted but said he would support deployment of
the mid-course radar system in the Czech Republic even if
interceptors were not installed immediately in Poland.
Lamborn added that funding for MD research and development
would continue.


7. (C) Lisek told the CODEL that Polish and Russian
parliamentary representatives had recently discussed the
possibility of hosting a conference that would explore
various aspects of MD. Participants would be drawn mainly
from the U.S., Russia, Poland, and the Czech Republic. Lisek
said his Czech counterparts had expressed support for such a
conference during a meeting last month. Tauscher thought a
conference could be useful in building consensus around the
need for MD, provided it were held in a neutral location like
Geneva, perhaps next spring.

///////////////////////////////////////////// //
SLUPSK PARLIAMENTARIANS: ALL POLITICS ARE LOCAL
///////////////////////////////////////////// //


8. (C) Tauscher assured parliamentarians from the Slupsk and
Pomeranian region that the U.S. remained committed to a
land-based mid-course MD system, although construction and
fielding of the European Interceptor Site (EIS) could occur
on a less aggressive timeline than previously discussed with
them. She reiterated the need for the system to be further
developed before full commitment to construction. The
parliamentarians appreciated her remarks and offered insights
into the debate in the Slupsk area regarding the EIS and the
community's consideration of other possible uses for the site.


9. (C) Eugeniusz Smolar, head of the Center for International
Relations, said Poland did not feel there was an "existential
threat" from Russia, but was concerned about the possibility
of a cyber-attack. He worried that an increasingly assertive
Russia might intervene in Azerbaijan, where the government
was trying to take a balanced position between Russia and the
West; Russian aims in Ukraine are also a concern, but Smolar
argued that the Ukrainian political leadership is so
hopelessly divided that it is hard to help them. Smolar said
that falling oil prices could serve to curb Russia's
aggressive external policies, but hard times in Russia would
hurt Putin's popularity and could lead to an internal
crackdown. Congresswoman Sanchez said that Russian police
had arrested a hundred protesters during the CODEL's stay in
Moscow.

//////////////////////////////////////////
PM'S OFFICE THINKING IN LINE WITH TAUSCHER
//////////////////////////////////////////


10. (C) Congresswoman Tauscher briefed the Prime Minister's
Political Cabinet Chief, Slawomir Nowak, on the Codel,s
preceding visit to Russia and emphasized that the Russians
should not mistake a technical delay due to the need for
further testing as bowing before Russian pressure. She told
Nowak there should be a common message from NATO, as well as
from individual members, to Russia on MD, including S/MRBMD.
Nowak agreed, emphasizing that all threats needed to be
addressed. He said that Poland does not see a threat from
Iran, but it will work with the U.S. to support the growing
bilateral strategic relationship. Nowak asserted that
Poland,s threats lay not far from its borders and thus
Tauscher,s emphasis on short and medium range missile
defense was welcome. He opined that Russia was more afraid
of the radar in the Czech Republic than the ten interceptors
in Poland.


11. (C) Tauscher observed that effective systems for S/MRBMD
were currently available, and NATO and Russia could discuss
them in an effort to reach agreement on a common threat,
without giving Russia a veto over Alliance decisions. Nowak
enthusiastically endorsed Tauscher,s comments. He called
for a good-faith effort to engage Russia in
confidence-building measures, while NATO continued to develop
a three-tier missile defense system with or without Russian
endorsement. Representative Loretta Sanchez commented that
the US-Poland relationship will not be crafted in Moscow.


12. (C) Nowak noted that Poland plans to purchase the PAC-3
Patriot Missile defense system, and Tauscher responded that
Congress will support Poland. Nowak concluded by stating
that Poland and the US were moving forward on MD, citing

WARSAW 00000022 003 OF 003


ongoing Status of Forces Agreement negotiations and planned
Patriot deployments despite Russian rhetoric.


13. (U) CODEL Tauscher has cleared this message.
ASHE