RFG: FIVE NATIONS ASK SYG TO PUT "NATO'S NUCLEAR

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 USNATO 000087 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/25/2020 TAGS: MNUC PARM PREL MARR MCAP NATO GM BE LU NL NO SUBJECT: RFG: FIVE NATIONS ASK SYG TO PUT "NATO'S NUCLEAR POLICY" ON TALLINN AGENDA REF: USNATO 66 Classified By: D/PolAd A. "Hoot" Baez for Reasons 1.4(b) and (d) ¶1. (S) This is a request for guidance. See paragraph 4. ¶2. (S) In a letter delivered on February 26 to NATO Secretary General Rasmussen and subsequently delivered to Allies, the Foreign Ministers of Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, and Luxembourg requested that NATO put the topic of its "nuclear policy in our evolving security environment" on the agenda of the NATO Foreign Ministerial in Tallinn on April 22-23, 2010. The full text of the letter is reproduced in paragraph 5. ¶3. (S) The Private Office (strictly protect) reports that the PermReps of the five nations told SYG Rasmussen that their FMs had no intention of "acting unilaterally," but instead were only calling for a discussion among the 28 Allies of NATO's nuclear policy. The SYG noted that media reports of a leaked draft of the letter had characterized the positions of the governments of the five nations as being focused on removal of tactical nuclear weapons from Europe. When the five PermReps put the letter in the context of the 2010 Strategic Concept, Rasmussen noted his belief that getting full Allied agreement to the Strategic Concept would require some language supportive of NATO's "nuclear deterrent." He also said he plans to hold several theme-based informal NACs this summer after the Group of Experts report in May to discuss the Strategic Concept, adding that one of these dicussions could focus on the issue of NATO's nuclear policy. ¶4. (S) RFG: PermReps will discuss the request from the five nations as early as Tuesday, March 2, during a previously-scheduled meeting on Tallinn Ministerial formats and agendas at the weekly PermRep lunch. Mission requests initial Washington reaction to the letter for the Ambassador's use during the March 2 discussion. ¶5. (S) The full text of the letter is reproduced below: BEGIN TEXT: "His Excellency Mr. Anders Fogh Rasmussen Secretary General to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization NATO Headquarters Brussels 26 February 2010 In the Strasbourg Declaration on Alliance Security, Heads of State and Government have stated that while deterrence remains a core element of our overall strategy, NATO will continue to play its part in reinforcing arms control and promoting nuclear and conventional disarmament in accordance with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, as well as non-proliferation efforts. The international agenda in the field of arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation will converge in the spring of 2010. START follow on negotiations are ongoing and the US Nuclear Posture Review is expected to be published soon. We welcome the US initiative for a nuclear security summit in April 2010. The NPT review conference in May is a crucial milestone for strengthening the international regime for nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. We hope we will see further achievements in the area of disarmament and arms control, i.a. the ratification of the CTBT, a fissile material cut-off treaty (FMCT) and the USNATO 00000087 002 OF 002 inclusion of sub-strategic nuclear weapons in subsequent steps towards nuclear disarmament. Credible deterrence on the one hand and arms control, disarmament, and non-proliferation on the other, must be seen as integral elements of a comprehensive policy. NATO will have to continue to pursue that policy in a balanced and mutually reinforcing way, as has been proven successful in the past. Arms control, disarmament, and non-proliferation are higher on the international agenda than they have been in many years. We welcome the initiatives taken by President Obama to strive towards substantial reductions in strategic armaments, and to move towards reducing the role of nuclear weapons and seek peace and security in a world without nuclear weapons. We believe that also in NATO we should discuss what we can do to move closer to this overall political objective. Our meeting in Tallinn, which takes place on the eve of the NPT Review Conference, provides us with an opportunity to open a comprehensive discussion on these issues and to produce guidance for the process on the new Strategic Concept. Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Norway therefore propose that you include the topic of NATO,s nuclear policy in our evolving security environment in the agenda for that meeting. We approach this discussion from a realistic point of view. Our future policy requires the full support of all Allies. NATO is in the process of defining its direction in an evolving security environment. We consider our initiative as a contribution to this discussion. This is an opportunity we should not miss." END TEXT. HEFFERN