AUSTRALIA GROUP: POLAND PLANS TO PARTICIPATE IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L WARSAW 000701 SIPDIS FOR ISN/CB E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/06/2019 TAGS: PARM PREL ETTC CBW PL SUBJECT: AUSTRALIA GROUP: POLAND PLANS TO PARTICIPATE IN PLENARY REF: STATE 67207 Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR DAN SAINZ FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D ) ¶1. (C) Lukasz Zielinski, head of the MFA's WMD Non-Proliferation Section, told us that Poland plans to participate in the September 21-25 Australia Group plenary meeting in Paris. He added that it is unclear which agencies will participate because the government has tightened its budget. Typically, Poland is represented by officials from the MFA, the Ministry of Economy, the Agency for Internal Security (ABW),and the Customs Service. The government will convene the inter-ministry team on nonproliferation issues--which includes 17 institutions with a stake in preventing the proliferation of dangerous weapons--at the beginning of September to coordinate Poland's participation. ¶2. (C) Zielinski said he lacked knowledge about Russia's export control efforts and chemical/biological weapons programs but would relay the request for information on these topics to "appropriate agencies." ASHE