US embassy cable - 05BERLIN65

C O N F I D E N T I A L BERLIN 000065 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/07/2015 
TAGS: MARR, PREL, AF, GM, NATO 
SUBJECT: BUILDING ON NATO FOREIGN MINISTERIAL: GERMANY 
SUPPORTS GOALS ON AFGHANISTAN 
 
REF: STATE 2743 
 
Classified By: Political Minister-Counselor John K. Bauman; 
Reasons 1.4(b) and (d). 
 
1. (C) In response to reftel demarche, on January 6 MFA 
Deputy NATO director Herbert Beck assured Embassy that 
Germany will continue to push other NATO allies increase 
their contributions to ISAF. When asked if he thought Germany 
would be able to persuade the Spaniards to provide a PRT in 
Qala-e Nah or Chaghcharan, Beck replied "that is a good 
question."  Germany has urged the GOS to take over a PRT, but 
thus far they have been noncommital.  He said that the 
success of ISAF remains one of Germany's top priorities and 
that Germany raises the issue with allies at every 
opportunity. 
 
2. (C) Beck said that Germany did not have a specific plan in 
mind for how it could help with the Parliamentary elections. 
He noted that when Turkey takes over the ISAF lead from 
EUROCORPS in February, Germany will have a larger cushion 
between deployed forces and the parliamentary-imposed ceiling 
of 2,250.  Although Germany had originally thought that its 
NRF-IV forces would be deployed to support the Parliamentary 
elections, the French would prefer to keep NRF-IV troops on 
standby for other missions.  Instead he expected that the 
German contribution for election support will be determined 
by the upcoming force generation process. 
 
Kabul minimize considered. 
COATS