US embassy cable - 05PRAGUE744

UNCLAS PRAGUE 000744 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
PARIS PLEASE PASS TO USUNESCO 
STATE PLEASE PASS TO USTR FOR MICHAEL PEAY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD, EZ, SCUL, UNESCO 
SUBJECT: CZECH RESPONSE TO DEMARCHE ON UNESCO CONVENTION ON 
CULTURAL DIVERSITY 
 
REF: SECSTATE 89776 
 
1.(U) We delivered the demarche regarding the USG's stance on 
the Convention on Cultural Diversity on 17 May to Karel 
Komarek, Secretary General of the Czech Commission for UNESCO 
 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and to Ladislava 
Votavova, the new Ministry of Industry and Trade, 
Multilateral Trade Department Director.  Both ministries 
expressed support for prolonging the discussion of the 
resolution until a later date. They agreed that the 
convention should not interfere with previous trade 
agreements, and Votavova expressed hope that the wrangling 
over the UNESCO resolution would not impact continuing WTO 
Doha Round discussions.  We faxed the talking points to Dr. 
Michael Benes, Head of the UNESCO Office in the Ministry of 
Culture, as he was unable to meet with us. He did not have a 
response. 
 
2.(SBU) This is the first time that the EC has claimed 
competence in an UNESCO discussion since the Czech Republic 
joined the EU, and Komarek expressed frustration at the 
strong hand that Brussels was showing.  He claimed that this 
is the first time in over 100 agenda items that the 
Commission has stepped in to take control.  Both Ministries 
freely admitted that it had become a trade issue and felt 
that it was complicating the original purpose of the UNESCO 
resolution.  Votavova was accompanied to the meeting by her 
deputy, Frantisek Peer, who is the continuity for trade 
negotiations and appears to be the one who will represent the 
Czech Republic in WTO discussions. They were intrigued to 
hear that other EU countries were interested in minimizing 
the trade aspect of the convention, and hoped that the 
convention would not impact US participation in the WTO 
Ministerial in Hong Kong. 
CABANISS