Wikileaks - MDCIII

249081 2/17/2010 4:33 10BUCHAREST81 Embassy Bucharest UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY 10STATE8403 VZCZCXRO5260 PP RUEHIK DE RUEHBM #0081 0480433 ZNR UUUUU ZZH P 170433Z FEB 10 FM AMEMBASSY BUCHAREST TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0323 INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RHEFHLC/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC PRIORITY RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC PRIORITY UNCLAS BUCHAREST 000081

STATE FOR S/CT PSCHULTZ, EUR/ERA ANARDI, L/LEI KPROPP, A/GIS/IPS/PRV CTHOMAS AND USEU/ECON LSNYDER JUSTICE FOR TBURROWS AND MWARREN DHS FOR MSCARDAVILLE, JKROPF, AND JBEDNARZ TREASURY FOR JYOO AND CGREENE

SENSITIVE SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PTER, KTFN, KCRM, KHLS, ECPS, ECON, PREL, KPAO, KTIA, CON, EUN, RO

SUBJECT: Law Enforcement and Counterterrorism Information-Sharing and Data Privacy Issues with Romania

REF: STATE 8403

1. (SBU) On February 10, 2010 POLOFF and Department of Justice (DOJ) Resident Legal Advisor to the SECI Regional Center for Combating Transborder Crime (SECI Center) delivered reftel non-paper to Radu Ragea, Deputy Undersecretary at the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) and Viviana Onaca, Director of the MOJ Directorate for International Law and Treaties, and engaged the MOJ officials in a discussion on information sharing and data privacy. Though the MOJ officials were unaware of the specific agreements, Ragea agreed that in general it was important to have in place agreements to combat terrorism and serious crime. Ragea believed that the U.S. and Romania had a strong working relationship in these fields and commented that Romania would likely support ratification of the Principals of the High Level Contact Group (HLCG), the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program (TFTP), and the U.S.-EU Passenger Name Records (PNR) agreement.

2. (SBU) On February 11, POLOFF and DOJ/SECI RLA delivered reftel non-paper to Anca Jurcan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Director for Asymmetric Threats, and Aurelia Merzon, an officer from the Directorate of Asymmetric Threats. MFA officers commented explicitly that the United States could count on Romanian political support at the EU level for ratification of the HLCG principals, the TFTP, and the PNR agreement. Due to the fact that there was speculation that Parliament may vote on the TFTP on February 11, MFA officials encouraged the Embassy to reach out directly to Romanian Members of the European Parliament (MEP). MFA officials were particularly concerned and keen to learn about what would happen if the TFTP failed to pass the European Parliament on February 11.

3. (SBU) On February 12, 2010, POLOFF and DOJ/SECI RLA delivered reftel non-paper to Liliana Moltorun, George Catalin, Dennis Miron, and Laurian Sirb. MOI officers similarly promised to put their political support behind this issue at the Ministry of Interior and within the Romanian law enforcement/intelligence community. Despite the TFTP's failure on February 11, the MOI officials promised to lobby for the passage of future agreements. The MOI hoped that the failure of the TFTP would not impact the bilateral relationship with the United States, which the MOI officials viewed as both important and successful.

4. (U) Embassy will reach out to Romanian members of European Parliament directly to address their individual concerns regarding information sharing and data privacy issues with the United States. Embassy also made plans with MOJ, MFA, and MOI officials to reconvene in early March to answer any additional questions that may arise within their respective Ministries after the non-paper has been fully circulated. We will also seek out other individuals and organizations that may be in a position to positively affect outcomes of future votes.

5. (U) Embassy Bucharest points of contact for this issue are Justin Weddle, DOJ/SECI Center RLA, WeddleJS@State.gov, (40) 72.329.2257, and Mark Oliver, Political Officer, OliverMJ@State.gov, (40) 21.200.3435.

GITENSTEIN