MALTA: GOM WILL STUDY PFP SOFA, OFFERS TRAINING

C O N F I D E N T I A L VALLETTA 000054

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR
DEPARTMENT ALSO FOR S/SRAP

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/24/2020
TAGS: AF MT NATO PGOV PREL
SUBJECT: MALTA: GOM WILL STUDY PFP SOFA, OFFERS TRAINING
FOR AFGHAN CIVIL SERVANTS

Classified By: Ambassador Douglas Kmiec, for reasons 1.4 (B) AND (D)


1. (C) Summary: In a wide-ranging discussion with the
personal assistant (Chief of Staff)to Malta Prime Minister
Lawrence Gonzi, the Government of Malta (GOM) indicated
possible willingness to sign the "Agreement among the States
parties to the North Atlantic Treaty and the other States
participating in the Partnership for Peace regarding the
status of their forces" (the PfP SOFA),and to provide
training to Afghan civil servants in a yet to be specified
curriculum in Malta. End Summary.

SOFA
--------------


2. (C) During a regularly scheduled monthly meeting with
Ambassador, Prime Minister Gonzi's personal assistant and
representative, Edgar Galea-Curmi, indicated that the GOM was
still reviewing how to approach the SOFA issue, but that
progress had been made. According to Galea-Curmi, Foreign
Minister Tonio Borg, who had been the primary opponent and
chief skeptic of signing a SOFA (on political grounds),had
following extensive discussions with the Ambassador recently
dropped that opposition and agreed that the government should
consider a SOFA "in some form or another." What remained to
be determined was what parameters the SOFA needed, and how
Malta could meet U.S. "expectations." Galea-Curmi advised
that the FM would be in touch with Ambassador Kmiec to
discuss these issues.


3. (C) Ambassador took this opportunity to raise the PfP
SOFA with Galea-Curmi, noting that it was a document which
was sufficiently broad that many other countries had been
able to accept it, including Russia, Croatia and - hopefully
in the near future - another neutral EU State, Ireland.
Ambassador stressed that this would be an opportunity to
show, politically, that Malta was in charge of the SOFA
process and not doing the U.S.'s bidding. He noted (as
Maltese defense officials have already advised us they are
aware) that in some cases countries signing the PfP SOFA and
protocols have done so with reservations, but cautioned that
any reservations should not have the effect of rendering the
document meaningless. Galea-Curmi expressed his
understanding of this point. He indicated that he would be
in touch with the FM and Attorney General to determine what
legislation would be necessary to implement the SOFA and
indicated that he foresaw no difficulty with obtaining
Parliamentary approval provided the political decision was
made to go forward.

Afghanistan Assistance
--------------


4. (SBU) On Afghanistan, Ambassador noted that the London
Conference was due to take place on January 28, and asked
about what Malta could offer in the way of assistance to the
stabilization effort. Galea-Curmi repeated FM Borg's recent
public statements that Malta was willing to provide training
in Malta on subjects such as public administration or law
enforcement. The only firm limits on type of training was
that it could not be military aid or training, and that it
would have to take into account Malta's limited resources.
He agreed to provide a description of what kind of training
would be available, but added that it would be helpful if the
U.S. could specify what types of training were needed by the
Government of Afghanistan, so that Malta could focus its
offer.

Comment
--------------


5. (C) The seeming willingness to consider signing the PfP
SOFA represents a change in heart on the part of Malta. Both
that dialogue and the broader public debate over the meaning
of neutrality that was sparked by the Ambassador's public
comments and a recent Op-Ed have helped strengthen the
U.S.-Malta relationship by conveying to Malta that if it
wishes to be an equal partner on the world stage, it must
undertake the same obligations -- even if the scale is
smaller, commensurate with Malta's resources -- as other
similarly situated nations.
KMIEC