KOSOVO/KFOR DEMARCHE DELIVERED -- ARMENIANS HAPPY

C O N F I D E N T I A L YEREVAN 000217 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/25/2019 TAGS: PREL MARR NATO KPKO KV AM SUBJECT: KOSOVO/KFOR DEMARCHE DELIVERED -- ARMENIANS HAPPY TO SERVE IN KOSOVO REF: A. STATE 26179 ¶B. USDAO YEREVAN IIR 6942 0023 09 Classified By: CDA Joseph Pennington, reasons 1.4, (b,d) ¶1. (C) CDA conveyed an abbreviated version of reftel talking points to Deputy Foriegn Minister Arman Kirakossian. Our points highlighted appreciation for Armenian commitment to Kosovo, including its recent doubling of its troop contingent there, and signaled continued firm U.S. commitment to seing the Kosovo mission through. CDA mentioned the need to provide continuing security in Kosovo while Kosovo national forces and institutions, as well as new international institutions (EULEX) get up and running and prove themselvs. Kirakossian agreed with our assessment, but made no substantive comment. ¶2. (C) COMMENT: The Armenians show no sign of losing committment to Kosovo -- quite the contrary, they continue to seek credit for having doubled their KFOR contribution from 35 to 70 in recent months. Our anxiety in delivering this demarche was that we not create the counter-productive effect of sensitizing Armenian leaders to new currents in some European capitals seeking to pull back from the KFOR mission and thus perhaps make the Armenians nervous about a Kosovo mission with which they are now quite content. On current trends, Armenia will probably be among the last partners to leave KFOR; they are happy with that deployment in a number of ways. Being in KFOR gets them positive political credit in the West, and valuable military experience operating with NATO forces in a moderate threat environment. ¶3. (C) COMMENT CONTINUED: Armenia's Peacekeeping Brigade -- currently only one fully-staffed battalion with a skeleton brigade organization still being fleshed out (see Ref B for more on PKO brigade) -- represents the leading edge of Western defense reform in Armenia. The unit is comprised of fairly well-trained contract soldiers, organized and trained toward a NATO model. The brigade's leadership is concerned about its relative dearth of foreign PKO deployment opportunities. Aside from the valuable experience noted above, international deployments are a powerful recruiting tool for the PKO brigade, as soldiers get paid a large stipend for foreign deployment. The bonuses can make a huge financial difference for soldiers' families in these troubled economic times. Now that the OIF deployment in Iraq has ended, the PKO brigade feels short of opportunities to send its troops abroad. Armenia might be amenable -- if we asked them -- even to increase its Kosovo troop numbers somewhat. PENNINGTON