US embassy cable - 05PRAGUE1461

C O N F I D E N T I A L PRAGUE 001461 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/13/2015 
TAGS: ETRD, OPDC, PREL, SCUL, EZ, UNESCO, BHUM, EUN 
SUBJECT: CZECH REPLY TO UNESCO CULTURAL DIVERSITY CONVENTION 
 
REF: A. SECSTATE 184292 
 
     B. PRAGUE 1371 
 
Classified By: Political-Economic Chief Mike Dodman for reasons 1.4 b+d 
 
1. (C) Pol-Econ Chief delivered Secretary's letter to Czech 
FM Svoboda on the UNESCO Cultural Diversity Convention (ref 
A) to MFA Political Director Martin Povejsil on Oct 13. 
Povejsil was familiar with USG positions from previous 
discussions (ref B).  He stated that the Czechs believe the 
Convention will be a "useful agreement" but added that the 
GOCR did not have strong views in terms of the articles of 
concern to the U.S., nor regarding the timing of a UNESCO 
decision.  That said, Povejsil stated firmly that the Czech 
stance is dictated by the common EU position on the 
Convention.  He recommended that this is the sort of issue 
that is better discussed as part of a transatlantic dialogue. 
 He encouraged USG use of the EU Troika channel to work out a 
US-EU compromise on the timing and content of the convention. 
 (Povejsil added that he found the Troika channel to be very 
imperfect, as it does not accurately reflect the views of all 
EU members, but that it remains important for both the US and 
EU to use existing channels to add substance to the 
transatlantic dialogue.) 
CABANISS