US embassy cable - 05KUWAIT1500

C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 001500 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR NEA/ARPI AND NEA/PI, ABU DHABI FOR MEPI 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/12/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, ECON, KMPI, KU, MEPI 
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR BRIEFS EU MISSION CHIEFS ON MEPI; EU 
REPORTS GCC RESISTS EUROMED PARTICIPATION 
 
REF: A. KUWAIT 1465 
 
     B. 04 STATE 271434 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Richard LeBaron for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
1. (C) Summary: The Ambassador hosted a meeting with EU 
Chiefs of Mission to discuss Broader Middle East and North 
Africa (BMENA) projects in Kuwait as well as on-going Middle 
East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) programs. The EU Chiefs 
reported the difficulty they had in convincing the GCC to 
participate as "strategic partners" in the Euromed 
initiative. The discussion revealed various initiatives 
coming from several organizations but limited coordination 
among the BMENA participants. End summary. 
 
2. (U) The Ambassador hosted 13 EU Chiefs of Mission April 11 
to discuss the MEPI program and Kuwait's involvement. He 
described MEPI's reform goals and emphasized the program's 
support from the White House, Congress and Department. While 
somewhat active in MEPI, Kuwait has not been involved to the 
same degree as other countries given its relative wealth and 
lack of officially-recognized non-governmental organizations. 
Kuwait has participated in MEPI small grants, standing 
program announcement programs and regional conferences. The 
Ambassador introduced Post's MEPI coordinator as a point of 
contact for additional program information. 
 
3. (SBU) In contrast to U.S. efforts, it appears that the 
European Union, with the exception of the United Kingdom, is 
less engaged in Middle East reform efforts in the Gulf. Aside 
from MEPI, the only other bilateral effort addressed was the 
UK's Global Opportunity Fund, which focuses on various 
thematic program areas such as counter-terrorism and 
"engaging the Islamic world." The British Embassy has used 
the Fund, created post-September 11, to sponsor three 
workshops in Kuwait in 2004 focused on women's development in 
media, lobbying and networking skills. They have also sent 
Kuwaitis to the UK for conferences. 
 
4. (C) The meeting addressed G-8, NATO, BMENA and EU 
initiatives related to Middle East reform. The EU's 
Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, also known as Euromed, 
launched in 1995 as the "Barcelona Process." It currently 
links the EU with 10 Mediterranean countries (including the 
non-Arab states of Israel and Turkey) in security, economic 
and cultural affairs. The EU would like to expand Euromed 
participation to the GCC, but the proposal received a cool 
reception at the April 5 EU-GCC Ministerial in Bahrain 
(reftel A). Oman and Saudi Arabia were notable resistors to 
the "EU Strategic Partnership with the Mediterranean and the 
Middle East," adopted by the European Council in June 2004, 
asserting that EU-GCC relations are primarily commercial and 
questioning the inclusion of non-economic matters, which 
Euromed would require. 
 
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Visit Embassy Kuwait's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ 
 
You can also access this site through the 
State Department's Classified SIPRNET website 
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LEBARON