US embassy cable - 05WARSAW3826

C O N F I D E N T I A L WARSAW 003826 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/14/2010 
TAGS: MARR, PREL, PGOV, PARM, PL 
SUBJECT: NEW POLISH GOVERNMENT LISTS MISSILE DEFENSE IN 
PUBLIC DOCUMENT ON PRIORITIES 
 
REF: WARSAW 3806 
 
Classified By: Political Counselor Mary Curtin for reasons 1.4 (b) and 
(d) 
 
1. (U) In a published addendum to his November 10 expose to 
the Sejm (Parliament) in advance of the first vote of 
confidence in his newly formed government (reftel), PM 
Marcinkiewicz included a specific statement on missile 
defense cooperation with the United States.  The statement 
listed as one of the new GOP's essential goals Poland's 
becoming the "third element of MDI."  This particular passage 
of the GOP program, which was included in the Foreign Affairs 
subsection titled "Western Policy," received wide coverage in 
major dailies and on radio and TV over the November 11 Polish 
Independence Day holiday weekend, including a front page 
story November 14 in the daily "Gazeta Wyborcza." 
 
2. (U)  Embassy informal translation of the Missile Defense 
passage follows: 
 
BEGIN TEXT. 
 
In relations with the United States, an essential task 
allowing a deepening of the strategic partnership with that 
country would be (Poland's) explicit expression of readiness 
to take part in the Missile Defense System (MDI).  We seek to 
have Poland included in the so-called "third element"  of 
MDI, related to radar tracking and destruction.  Our efforts 
in this direction will be successful, if we guarantee real 
coordination of the activities of the ministries engaged, 
especially the MFA and MOD, in the framework of the working 
group headed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 
 
END TEXT. 
 
3. (U) The November 14 Gazeta Wyborcza piece quoted a partial 
retraction by Marcinkiewicz of the published document, as 
well as critical comments from former GOP officials and 
others.  Marcinkiewicz said on November 12 that, "No 
decisions have been taken and we will thoroughly analyze 
everything and only then inform the public whether it's good 
or bad for Poland."  Former FM Adam Rotfeld called the public 
discussion of the matter "amateurish," and added that "We're 
conducting a delicate dialogue on this matter with the United 
States, we were asked to be discreet, and now something like 
this shows up in government documents."  Civic Platform 
leader Jan Rokita commented that "up until now the U.S. had 
been seeking our cooperation (on MDI), but now it appears we 
are seeking theirs."  Former DefMin Jerzy Szmajdzinski 
suggested that Poland's "overzealousness could be received 
badly by our NATO allies and Russia." 
 
4. (C) MFA Americas Department Deputy Director Pawel 
Dobrowolski told PolMil Chief November 14 that the MDI 
passage had been the result of "an unfortunate editing error 
by the Prime Minister's staff.  They included in this public 
document information that had been provided to them for 
internal consumption only."  He made very clear that the MFA 
had never intended for this information to be published, and 
noted former FM Rotfeld's statement in particular. 
 
4. (C) COMMENT.  During the electoral campaign, many domestic 
and foreign analysts worried that PiS had much less foreign 
and security policy experience than Civic Platform, and this 
first foreign policy misstep of the new GOP seems to bear 
that out.  Dobrowolski's boss at the MFA, Americas Director 
Amb. Henryk Szlajfer told us several weeks ago that the new 
government was "very eager on Missile Defense," and that they 
were hoping for an early decision on a third site, raising 
the possibility that the PM's office chose intentionally to 
publish heretofore internal, if not technically classified, 
information.  We believe, however, that Dobrowolski's and 
Rotfeld's assessment of the matter is more likely. 
Nonetheless, including this information in a public document 
apparently without consulting MFA or MOD in advance is not a 
good sign.  Fortunately, the weekend flurry of media coverage 
is likely to wane quickly, and Missile Defense will fade once 
again from the public eye. 
HILLAS