Wikileaks - DXVI
84802 11/8/2006 9:19 06VIENNA3264 Embassy Vienna CONFIDENTIAL 06STATE183545 VZCZCXRO2920 OO RUEHAG RUEHROV DE RUEHVI #3264 3120919 ZNY CCCCC ZZH O 080919Z NOV 06 FM AMEMBASSY VIENNA TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5450 INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RUEHBM/AMEMBASSY BUCHAREST PRIORITY 1383 RUEHSF/AMEMBASSY SOFIA PRIORITY 1101 C O N F I D E N T I A L VIENNA 003264
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR EUR/ERA - ROBINSON AND EUR/AGS - SAINT-ANDRE
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/08/2016 TAGS: PREL, PGOV, PHUM, EUN, AU SUBJECT: AUSTRIA ON NOVEMBER 13-14 EU FOREING MINISTERS MEETING (GAERC)
REF: STATE 183545
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Gregory E. Phillips. Reason: 1.4 (b) and (d).
1. (SBU) Charge delivered reftel points on November 7 to Andreas Riecken, the Austrian MFA's European Correspondent. 2. (C) Riecken made the following substantive comments:
-- Western Balkans: Kosovo will be a lunch topic, and Serbia will be a topic during the regular meeting, Riecken said. Martti Ahtisaari may join the Ministers for the luncheon discussion of Kosovo, he added. Bosnia was not on the agenda, however. On Serbia, a key issue was how to address the relationship between resumption of talks on Serbia's Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) and the delivery of Ratko Mladic to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague. Austria was among a group of EU member states that thought SAA talks could resume before Mladic is physically in custody in The Hague, but others took a harder line. In the end, Riecken said, there would probably not be much movement on this issue at the GAERC. Riecken added that there would probably be new developments on an initiative to facilitate visa issuance to young Serbs to visit the rest of Europe. This was an important element in supporting the European outlook of Serbian society, he said.
-- Russia: Riecken said the EU Presidency (Finland) had not yet specified what it intended by putting Russia on the agenda. Riecken speculated that this item would be a follow-up to recent meetings with Russian president Vladimir Putin, and to prepare for the upcoming EU-Russia summit.
-- Lebanon: The EU agrees with the U.S. assessment that Syria and Hizballah are trying to form a "blocking one-third" in the cabinet, Riecken said. He added that there had been an initiative to invite Lebanese Prime Minister Siniora to the GAERC meeting, but this had not been possible.
-- Iran: In addition to the nuclear issue, the EU may discuss the question of the Iran-EU Human Rights Dialogue, Riecken said.
-- Democratic Republic of the Congo: Riecken said he thought the DRC would be the topic of a joint meeting of Foreign and Defense Ministers in the context of the GAERC. Riecken said Austria supported termination of the military mission, now that the elections were over. He added that Austria supported the maintenance of the other EU missions, such as police training.
-- Uzbekistan and Cuba were not on the agenda at present, Riecken said. Phillips
