US embassy cable - 05VIENNA975

UNCLAS VIENNA 000975 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR SA/A, INL, EUR/ERA, EUR/PGI AND EUR/AGS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, SNAR, AF, UK, AU, EUN 
SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN RESPONSE TO UK REQUEST FOR AFGHAN 
COUNTERNARCOTICS ASSISTANCE 
 
REF: STATE 039676 
 
This message is Sensitive But Unclassified.  Please treat 
accordingly. 
 
1.  (SBU) After coordinating with our British colleagues, 
EconPolCouns presented reftel points on March 23 to Johannes 
Froehlich, Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Justice 
and Home Affairs Division, and Wolfgang Spadinger, Head of 
the Foreign Ministry's Office for International Cooperation 
in Drug Control, Crime Prevention, and Counterterrorism. 
Froehlich confirmed the Austrian government received the 
February 28 letter from British Foreign Secretary Straw and 
Secretary of State for International Development Benn. 
 
SIPDIS 
Froehlich said the matter is currently pending action by the 
Foreign Ministry's Asian bureau.  Froehlich and Spadinger 
were noncommittal on additional Austrian support to the 
Afghanistan Counter Narcotics Trust Fund.  Instead, they 
cited Austria's 2002 contribution of six million Euros in 
assistance to Afghanistan for demining, the advancement of 
women, and counternarcotics efforts. 
 
2.  (SBU) Froehlich and Spadinger echoed U.S. and UK concerns 
about the substantial increase in Afghan narcotics 
cultivation.  They agreed that the international community 
must support reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan to ensure 
the country's future.  Spadinger noted that Austrian 
participation in a project to establish an Afghan 
counternarcotics police force is entering its third year.  He 
added that Austria is contributing to efforts to strengthen 
Afghanistan's judiciary system. 
 
3.  (SBU) Froehlich and Spadinger stressed that Austria 
continues to focus on counternarcotics efforts in Central 
Asia.  In particular, Austria plays a leading role in the 
European Union's Border Management Program for Central Asia 
(BOMCA) and in the Paris Pact and the UN Office on Drugs and 
Crime (UNODC).  According to Spadinger, Austria relies on its 
cooperation with the UNODC to engage Kabul on 
counternarcotics efforts. 
 
4.  (SBU) UK Embassy officer William Gatward told us that the 
UK Ambassador had raised the issue with the Austrian Foreign 
Minister's chef du cabinet, Michael Zimmermann, on March 18. 
Zimmermann had said that Austria would take a closer look at 
the Trust Fund once the Afghan Government provided more 
details.  Gatward added that the Austrians had indicated that 
they are scaling back their development programs outside of 
Southeast Europe and Austria's twenty priority countries 
(which does not include Afghanistan). 
Brown