Wikileaks - CDLXX
80949 10/6/2006 12:26 06SOFIA1425 Embassy Sofia CONFIDENTIAL 06STATE163498 VZCZCXRO2199 OO RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR DE RUEHSF #1425 2791226 ZNY CCCCC ZZH O 061226Z OCT 06 FM AMEMBASSY SOFIA TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2662 INFO RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK IMMEDIATE RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE RUEHBM/AMEMBASSY BUCHAREST 0124 RUEHUB/USINT HAVANA 0007 C O N F I D E N T I A L SOFIA 001425
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/06/2016 TAGS: EUN, INRO, PHUM, PREL, UNGA, UN, CU, BU SUBJECT: BULGARIA SUPPORTS AMENDING EMBARGO RESOLUTION, SAYS CUBA SHOWING SIGNS OF PRAGMATISM
REF: STATE 163498
Classified By: DCM A. KARAGIANNIS FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D)
1. (C) Panteley Spassov of the MFA's UN and Global Issues Department agreed that the Cuban Embargo Resolution at UNGA should be balanced with a statement on Cuba's human rights record. He said the GOB will seriously consider our proposed language for the amendment but doubted our text would pass unchanged.
2. (C) We report for the record that separately Spassov shared his impressions of the Havana NAM conference, which he attended as an observer. (Note: The Bulgarians were lobbying for a UNESCO seat, competing against Belarus). He was impressed by what he termed the growing pragmatism of Cuban working-level experts.
3. (C) While the conference was soaked with anti-American and revolutionary rhetoric, he saw the Cubans successfully steer the NAM position paper from fiery language toward "sensible" proposals. Cuba is becoming the "realist" in the NAM "troika" (Cuba, Egypt, Malaysia), said Spassov. Deputy Foreign Minister Todor Churov, who was also in Havana, attributed some of this perceived pragmatism to mid-level officials "looking beyond Fidel." BEYRLE
