US embassy cable - 05MADRID1000

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MADRID 001000 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/15/2015 
TAGS: ETTC, PREL, PTER, HR, CH, LE, KPAL, SU, RS, GG, SP, EUN 
SUBJECT: SPAIN'S VIEWS IN ADVANCE OF MARCH 16 FOREIGN 
AFFAIRS MEETING 
 
REF: A. STATE 39909 
     B. MADRID 987 
     C. MADRID 988 
     D. MADRID 992 
 
Classified By: Political Officer Ricardo Zuniga for Reasons 1.4 (b) and 
 (d). 
 
1.  (C)  SUMMARY.  Poloff discussed the China arms embargo, 
Croatia, Human Rights in Belarus and Cuba, the Middle East 
Peace Process, Hamas, Lebanon, Sudan, Moldova, and Georgia 
with the MFA's Head of EU Policy Planning Enrique Mora 
Benavente on March 10 and March 14.  Spain's position 
regarding lifting the China arms embargo remains unchanged in 
favor of the EU decision to lift the embargo.  Most EU states 
believe Croatia has not met all required conditions to enter 
EU accession talks.  Spain will likely support the U.S. on 
human rights resolutions concerning Belarus and Cuba.  The 
March 1 London meeting concerning Palestine was a success. 
The GOS does not support designating Hizballah as a terrorist 
organization.  The GOS will not support removing Hamas from 
the terrorist list any time soon, but they acknowledge that 
the EU and Spain will have to work with Hamas as they become 
a political force in the democratic process in Palestine. 
There will be no action on Sudan at the Foreign Ministers 
meeting on March 16.  The EU is ready to cooperate with the 
new Moldovan government and believes that the elections were 
generally fair.  The EU is currently looking at three 
proposals for a Border Monitoring Organization (BMO) in 
Georgia.  END SUMMARY 
 
//CHINA ARMS EMBARGO// 
 
2.  (C)  Spain's position regarding lifting the China arms 
embargo remains unchanged.  Mora Benavente hoped that the 
current trip to the U.S., Japan, and Australia of the 
delegation led by Annalisa Gianella, High Representative 
Solana's Special Representative for Nonproliferation Issues, 
would help explain the European position regarding the China 
arms embargo.  Representatives of the six European arms 
manufacturing nations that signed the 1998 Letter of Intent 
(Germany, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Sweden, and 
Spain) are accompanying Gianella on the trip.  Spain's 
representative will be Marcos Rodriguez Cantero, the Deputy 
Director General for Disarmament at the MFA.  Mora Benavente 
said that the delegation is aware that they will not change 
minds in the U.S., but he hopes that members of Congress and 
other USG members will understand better how the code of 
Conduct and the "toolbox" of measures to exchange information 
on weapons sales will help regulate arms sales (Ref A). 
 
//CROATIA// 
 
3.  (C)  Most EU states believe that Croatia has not met all 
required conditions to enter EU accession talks.  Mora 
Benavente said that there is a 90 percent chance that there 
will be some sort of statement March 16 that will address the 
postponement of EU accession talks for Croatia. 
 
//HUMAN RIGHTS// 
 
4.  (C)  Mora Benavente said he was not an expert on the UN 
Commission on Human Rights, but he thinks that Spain will 
continue to support the co-tabling and the lobbying of human 
rights resolutions concerning Belarus.  Mora Benavente did 
not have specific information on the resolution regarding 
Cuba, but he did note that the Cuban Foreign Minister would 
be visiting Spain this week.  (NOTE:  Spain has always 
supported U.S. resolutions regarding Belarus.  Post is 
polling GOS sources separately on the issue of the Cuba 
resolution.) 
 
//MIDDLE EAST PEACE PROCESS// 
 
5.  (C)  The March 1 London meeting concerning Palestine was 
a success in Spain's view, and EU representatives had a good 
discussion with Lieutenant General Ward.  The meeting was a 
success in that: (1) the Palestinians received pressure from 
the international community to maintain security in their 
territory, and (2) the Palestinians received support from the 
international community to continue reform efforts. 
 
//HAMAS// 
 
6.  (C)  Mora Benavente told Poloff that Hamas would not be 
removed from the terrorist finance list any time soon, but he 
said that EU member states may be obliged to work with Hamas 
in the future when they start winning local municipal 
elections.  The EU and Spain have many development projects 
in Palestine, including several "sister city" relationships. 
Additionally, he added that because Hamas is the second 
largest political party in Palestine, the peace process would 
better be served if Hamas is pushed towards being more 
political and democratic and away from violence. 
//LEBANON / HIZBALLAH// 
 
7.  (C)  The GOS supports full implementation of UNSCR 1559 
forcing Syrian troops to leave Lebanon, but Spain's position 
remains the same on opposing Hizballah's designation as a 
terrorist organization.  Mora Benavente explained to Poloff 
that there are three elements to Spain's current policy 
towards Hizballah:  (1)  Spain would like to see hard 
evidence of Hizballah's support of terrorist activities in 
Palestine; (2)  Spain does not want to upset the current 
Middle East Peace Process by designating Hizballah as a 
terrorist organization if the Palestinians under Abu Mazen do 
not support such a designation; and (3) Hizballah is a key 
player in the Lebanese political process and alienating 
Hizballah will alienate 40 percent of Lebanon's population 
(Ref C). 
 
//SUDAN// 
 
8.  (C)  Mora Benavente said that there would be no new 
actions on Sudan at the February 16 GAERC meeting.  The EU is 
asking that the Commission of Inquiry conclusions be dealt 
with by the International Criminal Court.  He said that he 
expects an omnibus UNSC resolution concerning Sudan in April. 
 
//RUSSIA / MOLDOVA// 
 
9.  (C)  The EU supports the preliminary conclusions of the 
International Election Observation Mission in Moldova that 
states the elections were generally fair, although the EU 
regrets the fact that opposition candidates did not have 
equal access to the media.  The EU is ready to cooperate with 
the forces entering Parliament and will continue to push for 
the development of democracy and modernization in Moldova. 
The EU will also push for new negotiations on the status of 
Transnistria. 
 
//RUSSIA / GEORGIA// 
 
10.  (C)  Mora Benavente told Poloff that the EU is currently 
considering three options for a Border Monitoring 
Organization (BMO) in Georgia, including:  (1)  Reinforcing 
the office of the EU Special Representative to the South 
Caucasus Heikki Talvitie; (2) Training Georgian officials to 
patrol the border; and (3) Having an EU mission at the border 
that would be a European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP) 
mission.  He said that there was widespread consensus in the 
EU for the first two options, but there was no consensus on 
the third option.  He said that the Baltic States, Slovakia, 
and Sweden were all pushing the third option, but he said the 
proposal did not have strong support among other EU members. 
Mora Benavente told Poloff that the international community 
now has a six-week window to try to resolve the Georgian BMO 
problem because poor weather in the mountainous border region 
will prevent action during that time (Ref D). 
 
 
 
MANZANARES