US embassy cable - 05HELSINKI94

C O N F I D E N T I A L HELSINKI 000094 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR PM/WRA AND EUR/NB 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/21/2010 
TAGS: PARM, FI, CDG, UN, Finland-Arms Control 
SUBJECT: FINLAND: DEMARCHE ON MARKING AND TRACING OF SA/LW 
 
REF: A. STATE 9788 
 
     B. STATE 10065 
 
Classified By: POL Chief John Hall, for Reasons 1.4(B) and (D) 
 
1. (C) We delivered Ref A demarche to Laura 
Kansikas-Debraise, Director of MFA's Unit for Arms Control, 
Disarmament, and Nonproliferation, drawing on the talking 
points to make the case against a legally binding instrument 
that includes ammunition, and stressing that both are red 
lines for the United States.  On those two most controversial 
issues in the current Chairman's draft text, Kasikas-Debraise 
indicated that Finland is among those who do not strongly 
support the official EU position (Ref A, para 11). 
Specifically, she told us the following: 
 
-- Nature of the instrument: Officially, Finland supports a 
legally binding document.  EU nations will implement the 
document's terms whether they are legally or politically 
binding, but the Finns believe there are many nations who do 
see a difference between the two, and are less likely to 
implement if the instrument does not have legally-binding 
status.  That said, "we do not think it will be catastrophic" 
if the document does not have that status, and 
Kansikas-Debraise agrees with the U.S. view that not enough 
negotiating time remains to achieve a legally binding text. 
 
-- Ammunition: The Finns mark ammunition packages, and in 
principle favor including ammunition in the document, but the 
GoF will not support doing so if that means the United States 
will not join consensus.  Kansikas-Debraise agreed that the 
main purpose of the instrument is the marking and tracing of 
SA/LW, and if achieving that goal is jeopardized by 
attempting to include ammunition, the latter should be 
dropped.  She did comment, however, that she was somewhat 
surprised to hear that this is a deal-breaker for the U.S., 
since the Germans had told the Finns privately that they 
believe the USG has some flexibility on this question. 
 
2. (C) Kansikas-Debraise has been the MFA action officer for 
SA/LW negotiations, but her recent promotion to head of the 
arms control unit means she will not be able to travel to New 
York for the OEWG meeting.  Finland will be represented by 
its UN mission, and by a police official from the Ministry of 
the Interior.  The MFA hopes that an MoD expert will also be 
able to join the upcoming session during the second week. 
MACK