POLES INSIST CONDITIONALITY KEY TO SUCCESSFUL

C O N F I D E N T I A L WARSAW 000038 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/CE (GLANTZ),EUR/RPM (COPE),S/SRAP, AND SCA/A E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/15/2020 TAGS: MARR MOPS NATO PREL AF PL SUBJECT: POLES INSIST CONDITIONALITY KEY TO SUCCESSFUL TRANSITION IN AFGHANISTAN REF: STATE 4108 Classified By: Political Counselor F. Daniel Sainz for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Polish officials firmly believe that Afghan military and law enforcement personnel must be fully capable of assuming responsibility for security during upcoming transitions before ISAF forces depart. Tomasz Lekarski, Deputy Director of the MFA's Security Policy Department, said he would review reftel information, but he was already aware of NATO's goal to adopt a transition plan for ISAF prior to the January 28 London conference. Whether the transitions occurred on a province-by-province or national basis, Lekarski asserted that improving the capacity of local Afghan National Army and Police (ANA/ANP) elements was a key condition for an eventual departure by ISAF. In this respect, he underscored the difficulty of training ANP personnel, in particular, who were more vulnerable than the ANA to Taliban infiltration and influence. ¶2. (C) On the London conference, Lekarski said he was uncertain of the West's ability to influence Afghan President Hamid Karzai or members of his government to implement the steps necessary to stabilize the country and provide effective security for its citizens. He also warned that reconciliation efforts already tentatively underway in Afghanistan would require a lot of funding from the West. ¶3. (SBU) According to the MFA, ForMin Radoslaw Sikorski, Deputy ForMin Jacek Najder (former Ambassador to Kabul),and Ambassador Jerzy Wieclaw of the MFA's Asia-Pacific Department will represent Poland at the London conference. FEINSTEIN