Poland undecided on Mugabe

Poland was as late as October not decided yet on how to approach the issue of President Robert Mugabe attending the European Union-Africa summit in Lisbon.

The summit was to be held on 8 and 9 December.

The director for EU affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Pawel Herczynski said while he sympathised with Britain’s position that Prime Minister Gordon Brown would not attend if Mugabe was present Poland also wanted the Summit to go forward because of the large number of important issues that needed to be addressed.

Full cable:

Viewing cable 07WARSAW2091, POLAND: MFA OFFICIAL REVIEWS GAERC AGENDA;

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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 WARSAW 002091

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/11/2017

TAGS: EUN PREL PGOV ETRD ETTC KPAL WTO PL

SUBJECT: POLAND: MFA OFFICIAL REVIEWS GAERC AGENDA;

EXPRESSES OPTIMISM ON UPCOMING EU SUMMIT

REF: SECSTATE 141316

Classified By: Polcouns Mary T. Curtin for reasons 1.4(b) and (d).

¶1. (C) Summary: PolCouns met October 11 with Pawel

Herczynski, MFA Deputy Director for EU Affairs, to review

reftel issues in advance of the October 15-16 EU Foreign

Ministers meeting. While most of his comments were

predictable, Herczynski added a new twist on Poland’s

approach to EU-Russia policy, saying that, if the meat ban is

not resolved, Poland will block not only a new EU-Russia

agreement, but also will block EU common policy on Russia’s

admission to the WTO. Separately, on the upcoming EU Summit,

Herczynski expressed optimism for a successful Summit,

indicating that Poland will accept reference to the Ioanina

mechanism outside the EU Reform Treaty itself. End Summary.

¶2. (C) Regarding the Summit, Herczynski opened by saying

that, while he had “no idea” of what would eventually

transpire, there was, since President Kaczynski’s October 8

visit to France, a very “constructive spirit” toward the

summit and the unresolved issues regarding the EU Reform

Treaty, something we had heard earlier from other EU

diplomats. Herczynski said Kaczynski would travel to Berlin

October 12 to continue discussions, and that it looked like

countries were “close to a satisfactory solution.” Poland

did not, he said, want to be seen to be blocking the Treaty.

On the Ioanina mechanism to allow countries to block action

they did not support, he said Poland had wanted to have it in

the main body of the Treaty, but Poland was the only country

supporting the idea. Poland’s “main partners” are, he said,

ready to find some other way to refer to mechanism and to

make it “legally binding.” (Note: We separately heard from

French and German diplomats that Poland will accept reference

to the mechanism in a political statement. End Note) Poland

will likely decide to opt out of the Chart of Fundamental

Rights, but will note its acceptance of the social rights,

with which it has no problems.

¶3. (C) Herczynski said Poland had two other

procedural/administrative issues it would press for. It

wanted the number of Advocates General increased from eight.

The number needed, he said, to be increased to reflect the

larger number of member states. Under the rotational method

currently in place, Poland would not have someone in the

position for decades. Poland also wants to change how

decisions are made at the European Central Bank (ECB),

especially with regard to the financing of major

infrastructure projects. In particular, it wants to make

sure that projects such as the Russian-German pipeline, which

bypasses Poland and other EU countries, does not receive ECB

financing.

¶4. (C) On the GAERC, Herczynski provided the following

comments:

–DOHA issues will not be addressed at the upcoming GAERC.

–Kosovo: Poland’s position remains close to that of the U.S.

He noted that Slovenia has put forth a proposal, which

Poland opposes, to speed up the opening of the EU to Serbia,

in order to get Serbia to move on Kosovo. Poland is open to

expansion, but believes Serbia must meet all criteria,

including full cooperation with the ICTY. Opening to Serbia

should not, Poland believes, be linked to its acceptance of

Kosovo’s status.

–Russia: Expectations are low for the upcoming October 26

EU-Russia Summit. Poland will press the Troika to raise

Russia’s ban on Polish meat and plants. He emphasized that

Poland is still very determined not to let negotiations on a

new EU-Russia agreement go forward until the meat issue is

solved. He then added that, “if forced,” Poland will also

block a EU common position supporting Russia’s entry into the

WTO if there is no progress on the meat ban. Herczynski said

he could not predict the outcome of Poland’s October 21

elections, but said that if this government remains in place,

this position will hold firm. (Note: He would not speculate

on what other parties would do.)

–Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process: Herczynski said that

Poland is looking forward to the international meeting, and

hopes that Arab states, especially Saudi Arabia, will

participate.

–Iran: Poland believes the EU should start internal

preparations for autonomous sanctions on Iran, outside the

UNSC framework, supporting the French/German initiatives on

this issue. He said he expected the COREPER to address the

issue today (October 11).

–Chad: Poland will be sending troops to Chad under the

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French-led joint ESDP/UN peacekeeping operation to Eastern

Chad. Herczynski did not have the details on the deployment,

and indicated that those were still being worked with the

French.

–Zimbabwe: Herczynski said Poland is undecided how to

approach the difficult issue of deciding about the presence

of Robert Mugabe at the December EU-Africa Summit. He noted

the UK position that it will not attend at a high level if

Mugabe is there. Poland has sympathy for this position given

its own struggle for democracy and its support for democracy

around the world, but also wanted the Summit to go forward

because of the large number of important issues that needed

to be addressed. He asked if the U.S. had a position on that

issue.

ASHE

(95 VIEWS)