POLAND: GET NPT BACK ON TRACK

C O N F I D E N T I A L WARSAW 000227

SIPDIS

FOR THE DEPARTMENT (ISN/MNSA),GENEVA (CD),UNVIE (IAEA),
USUN (POL),USNATO (POL),AND USEU (POL)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/26/2019
TAGS: AORC CDG ENRG KNNP MNUC PARM PGOV PREL UNGA
IAEA, NPT, PL
SUBJECT: POLAND: GET NPT BACK ON TRACK

REF: STATE 6970

Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR DAN SAINZ FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D
)


1. (C) Summary. In response to reftel questions, Szymon
Bochenski of the Polish MFA's Security Policy Department told
us February 19 that Warsaw's top priority for the current
Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) review cycle was to
strengthen unity among NPT participants and bolster the
treaty's effectiveness. He said it was absolutely critical
for participants to agree to an agenda at the 2009
Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) meeting. Bochenski believes
that balancing the peaceful development of nuclear energy
with efforts to restrict the spread of enrichment
capabilities will pose an increasingly difficult challenge
for NPT participants. Regarding disarmament, he said
Washington should "lead by example" and engage Russia in a
serious disarmament dialogue. Bochenski emphasized that
Poland wanted a discussion of negative consequences that
could be imposed on countries that leave the NPT under
Article 10. End Summary.

TOP OBJECTIVE: UNIFY PARTICIPANTS, STRENGTHEN NPT
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2. (C) Bochenski said Poland's top objective for the 2009
PrepCom meeting in May and the 2010 Review Conference
(RevCon) was to strengthen unity among NPT participants and
bolster the treaty's effectiveness. He emphasized that the
current review process was critical to recovering from "the
2005 RevCon fiasco," during which participants could not
reach agreement on an agenda. He said Washington had a short
window of opportunity to capitalize on international goodwill
towards the new administration and to put the NPT "back on
track." Participants must reach consensus on a firm agenda
during the PrepCom in order for the RevCon to be successful.
He praised U.S. efforts to solicit other countries' input
early in the review process.

PEACEFUL DEVELOPMENT OF NUCLEAR ENERGY
--------------


3. (C) Bochenski told us that NPT participants needed to
determine how to treat fairly countries pursuing peaceful
development of nuclear energy, while maintaining safeguards
against those seeking nuclear weapons. Bochenski observed
that pressures to cap carbon emissions, pursue alternative
sources of energy, and enhance energy security were
encouraging an increasing number of countries--including
Poland--to pursue nuclear energy. The "right" of a country
to possess enrichment technology was likely to become an
increasingly contentious issue. He said that Poland favored
the concept of developing "nuclear enrichment banks" under
the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA). Bochenski warned that efforts to tighten
restrictions on enrichment and reprocessing capabilities
would probably provoke countries that were developing
peaceful nuclear energy programs. He suggested that the
issue could be addressed through the Nuclear Suppliers Group.

U.S. DISARMAMENT DIALOGUE WITH RUSSIA
--------------


4. (C) On the disarmament front, Bochenski said Washington
should "lead by example" and engage in a serious dialogue
with Moscow on nuclear weapons reductions. He argued that if
the U.S. and Russia were to take the first steps toward
serious disarmament, other countries would probably follow
suit.

NPT NOT EQUIPPED TO ADDRESS NON-COMPLIANCE
--------------


5. (C) Turning to non-compliance, Bochenski said the issue
could be addressed more effectively through the UN and
various export control regimes, not the NPT. He said the
text of the treaty failed to address non-compliance, arguing
that the NPT did not contain provisions for dealing with
actors who refuse to comply.

LACK OF UNIVERSALITY
--------------


6. (C) Bochenski noted that non-NPT countries will have to be
engaged at some point and brought under the auspices of the
treaty. Poland supported the Additional Protocol (AP) as a
verification mechanism and believed that the AP should be a
precondition for supply of nuclear goods.

STRENGTHEN PENALTIES FOR LEAVING TREATY
--------------


7. (C) The GoP wanted a discussion on Article 10,
particularly on dealing with countries that leave the NPT.
Bochenski argued that countries choosing to withdraw from the
treaty regime should be sanctioned. He also believed there
should be a mechanism in place to maintain IAEA inspections.

CONTACTS
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8. (U) Embassy Warsaw contact on nonproliferation issues is
Rupert Finke, phone: 48-22-504-2267, e-mail:
finkerc@state.gov. MFA contact is Szymon Bochenski, phone:
48-22-523-9644. e-mail: szymon.bochenski@msz.gov.pl.
ASHE