US embassy cable - 05VIENNA2698

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 VIENNA 002698 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/AGS, EUR/ERA, EUR/SE, AND INR/EU 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, PTER, KCOR, KCRM, SMIG, EZ, HU, PL, LO, SI, RO, BU, AU, EUN 
SUBJECT:  CENTRAL EUROPEAN INTERIOR MINISTERS PLEDGE TO 
 
STRENGTHEN POLICE COOPERATION 
 
This message is sensitive but unclassified. 
 
1.  (U) SUMMARY: At the annual meeting of the "Salzburg 
 
Forum" (an informal conference of Central European 
 
Interior Ministers) Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, 
 
Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Romania pledged to 
 
strengthen police cooperation against organized crime, 
 
corruption, and terrorism.  The ministers discussed the 
 
need to harmonize European asylum and migration laws and 
 
develop a strategy to bring Western Balkan countries in 
 
line with European Union security standards.  Interior 
 
Minister Liese Prokop noted these issues would be 
 
priorities for Austria's 2006 EU Presidency.  European 
 
Commission Vice President Franco Frattini addressed the 
 
Forum on the European Union's Hague Program, which aims 
 
to manage migration, strengthen security, and enhance law 
 
enforcement and judicial cooperation.  The ministers 
 
issued a joint declaration at the conclusion of the 
 
conference (see text, para 6).  End Summary. 
 
2.  (U) Austria hosted the annual meeting of the Salzburg 
 
Forum in Graz on July 28-29, bringing together Interior 
 
Ministers from Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, 
 
Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Romania.  The Austrian 
 
Interior Ministry established the Forum in 2000 as a 
 
means to intensify regional political and law enforcement 
 
cooperation on European integration, border management, 
 
illicit migration, human trafficking, organized crime, 
 
corruption, and terrorism.  The Salzburg Forum also 
 
welcomed Romania as a new member.  Bulgaria had also 
 
received an invitation to attend and join the Salzburg 
 
Forum, but was not able to send a representative to the 
 
meeting because of a government crisis. 
 
3.  (SBU) In her opening remarks to the conference, 
 
Austrian Interior Minister Liese Prokop outlined several 
 
priorities for the Austrian EU Presidency in the first 
 
half of 2006, including strengthening law enforcement 
 
cooperation in the fight against terrorism, organized 
 
crime, and corruption; and bringing Eastern European 
 
asylum and migration policies in line with EU standards. 
 
According to Prokop, expanding the Schengen agreement to 
 
new member states and developing a strategy to enhance 
 
border controls in the Balkans will also be focus areas. 
 
"We must all work together toward establishing an equally 
 
good security situation in Central Europe," Prokop said, 
 
"and contribute jointly toward more security in our 
 
eastern, southeastern, and also northern and northeastern 
 
periphery.  If we do that, we act in not only our own 
 
interest, but also in the interest of the European 
 
Union."  Prokop also set the stage for the 4-5 May 2006 
 
Council of EU Foreign and Interior Ministers.  Austria is 
 
working closely with its European Union counterparts to 
 
draft a "Vienna Declaration," a strategy for combating 
 
transnational crime and standardizing border controls. 
 
4. (U) EU Commissioner for Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) 
 
Franco Frattini addressed the Forum on the importance of 
 
implementing the EU's "Hague Program" for security in 
 
Central Europe.  Frattini stressed that the current 
 
threat from international terrorism made the Hague 
 
Program measures indispensable.  Frattini urged closer 
 
cooperation in the fight against terrorism: "The special 
 
geographic situation of central Europe makes it 
 
particularly sensitive to big trends in illegal migration 
 
and organized crime like trafficking of drugs and of 
 
human beings.  In a few years' time, the border controls 
 
between Austria, Poland, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, 
 
Slovakia, and Hungary will be abolished.  This situation 
 
makes that the Central European states are key players 
 
for the security gambit (sic) of the EU," Frattini said. 
 
Under the Hague Program, Frattini added, the EU 
 
Commission will promote greater exchange of law 
 
enforcement information, including criminal records and 
 
arrests warrants.  Frattini emphasized that in the 
 
aftermath of the July bombings in London, the European 
 
Council (EU Summit)"strengthens the commitment to 
 
combating terrorism and upholding the principles of 
 
freedom, security, and justice." 
 
5.  (U) Text of Joint Declaration: "The Ministers of the 
 
Salzburg Forum in Graz on 28th and 29th July 2005 note 
 
with satisfaction that cooperation within the framework 
 
of the Salzburg Declaration 2001 has been very 
 
successful.  In particular, the accession of the Czech 
 
Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, and Slovakia as full 
 
Members to the European Union opened a new dimension for 
 
this process, bearing in mind the increased importance of 
 
regional cooperation in the enlarged EU.  Following the 
 
agreement of the Salzburg Forum meeting in Budapest on 22 
 
April 2005, the Ministers herewith welcome the 
 
participation of Romania in the work of the Salzburg 
 
Forum.  With special regard to the present challenges to 
 
be faced by the EU, the Ministers of the Salzburg Forum 
 
wish to express in the presence of Vice President 
 
Frattini their confidence in the continuation of the 
 
process of European integration and their firm support to 
 
the principles of the Hague Program and its 
 
implementation."  End Text. 
 
Van Voorst