Estonia on January FAC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TALLINN 000009 SIPDIS AMEMBASSY ANKARA PASS TO AMCONSUL ADANA AMEMBASSY ASTANA PASS TO AMCONSUL ALMATY AMEMBASSY BERLIN PASS TO AMCONSUL DUSSELDORF AMEMBASSY BERLIN PASS TO AMCONSUL LEIPZIG AMEMBASSY BELGRADE PASS TO AMEMBASSY PODGORICA AMEMBASSY HELSINKI PASS TO AMCONSUL ST PETERSBURG AMEMBASSY ATHENS PASS TO AMCONSUL THESSALONIKI AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL YEKATERINBURG E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/01/22 TAGS: PREL EUN EN SUBJECT: Estonia on January FAC CLASSIFIED BY: Marc Nordberg, Pol/Econ Chief, State; REASON: 1.4(B), (D) Classified by Ambassador Michael Polt for Reasons 1.4 B and D. ¶1. (U) Pol Chief discussed reftel points with Kristina Meius, Director of the MFA's European Affairs Division on January 21. Post also provides a general assessment of the Estonian MFA and the value of these demarches at the end of this cable. Meius provided the following Estonian positions: ¶2. (SBU) Bosnia-Herzegovina: Estonia supports the USG position on OHR/EUSR, and will work to encourage the EU to enhance EUSR's authority. Meius believes the EU ministers will agree to extend the EUFOR mandate through November 2010, after which further extensions will depend on the situation. The GOE believes the international community needs to play a stronger role promoting stability, since the local communities cannot agree on reforms. ¶3. (C) Afghanistan: Estonia wants to see timely implementation of the EU Action Plan. There needs to be a greater civil role in assistance, as well as greater civil-military coordination. Estonia will maintain between 152 - 165 troops in Helmand Province and will send a third officer to the EU police mission. Despite GOE budget cuts, Estonia's development assistance for Afghanistan will remain at current levels. Estonia supports strengthening UNAMA. Meius does not believe the appointment of a single EU representative will happen before the London Conference. She thinks the process will take at last another month for the EU to settle on a candidate. ¶4. (SBU) Somalia: Estonia supports the TFG and believes the EU should do more to help build security forces to support this government. Meius said it is unlikely the EU will decide on its training mission at this FAC, as some member states still have questions, but she believes it will be approved at the following FAC. ¶5. (C) Iran: Meius stated that Iran's response to the IAEA on enrichment in a third country was "insufficient," therefore the GOE supports discussing the extension of sanction through the UNSC. If the UNSC cannot decide on sanctions, then the EU should consider unilateral measures. ¶6. (SBU) Yemen: The GOE supports the January 27 meeting in London, but is not able to participate. Meius said the EU and international community, particularly the Gulf Cooperation Council, need to provide more assistance to the Yemeni government. ¶7. (U) Haiti: The EU will discuss a possible civilian reconstruction mission to Haiti to focus on longer term aid. Estonia has provided nearly USD 400,000 in bilateral assistance, but will give more if it is needed. ¶8. (C) Comment: Pol Chief has delivered these pre-GAERC/FAC messages to the MFA for the past six months, and notes that the Estonian response to many topics is often thin. That is because Estonia's MFA is thinly staffed, and most Estonian diplomats are focused on European issues, Russia or a few global hot spots. Coverage of other areas is often superficial at best. For instance, the MFA has only three officers covering all of South and Central America, Africa and the Middle East (there were four, but one was laid off in December during budget cuts). Estonia only has two embassies in these regions, Cairo and Tel Aviv, both of which opened in late 2009. Several Estonian diplomats have told us their only source of information on many countries comes from the media. TALLINN 00000009 002 OF 002 Therefore, the GOE will often lack the self-confidence to take a leading role on issues with the EU. We see Estonia's lack of resources in this regard to be an opportunity and it is clear that although the GOE's responses to our demarches often lack specificity, Estonian diplomats appreciate our information, and sharing the USG position can be highly influential in shaping Estonian positions. POLT