US embassy cable - 05WARSAW3872

C O N F I D E N T I A L WARSAW 003872 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/18/2015 
TAGS: PREL, ECON, PGOV, PL, EUN 
SUBJECT: POLISH APPROACH TO NOVEMBER 21 EU GAERC 
 
REF: STATE 208899 
 
Classified By: Political Counselor Mary Curtin, reasons 1.4b,d 
 
1. (SBU) Post delivered reftel demarche upon receipt and 
reviewed with Polish MFA Director CFSP Beata Kolecka November 
18.  Kolecka provided the following outline of the Polish 
government's approach to the November 21 GAERC. 
 
2. (C) Defense Issues: Poland is in full accord with our 
position and will continue to urge close cooperation between 
the European Defense Agency and the U.S., and between the EU 
and NATO on the Headline Goal 2010, civilian capabilities, 
and civil-military planning. 
 
3. (C) Iraq and MEPP: Kolecka indicated complete agreement 
with our points on Iraq, and observed that a decision on 
extension of the Polish deployment in Iraq should be made 
soon by the new government, in consultation with us and the 
Iraqis.  She reported that Poland generally shares our 
assessment of the Middle East Peace Process, and welcomed the 
recent agreement opening the Rafah crossing.  Kolecka stated 
that Poland would like to participate in an EU monitoring 
mission, but allowed that it is not yet clear whether enough 
qualified Polish monitors will be available after staffing a 
similar mission in Moldova.  Freedom of movement for 
Palestinians in East Jerusalem remains a concern of many EU 
states, she noted, suggesting that the EU may propose new 
measures to pressure the Israeli government to address this 
issue. 
 
4. (C) Ukraine: A brief discussion of Ukraine is expected for 
the November 21 GAERC, mostly in reference to the upcoming 
EU-Ukraine summit.  Kolecka explained that the EU intends to 
use the December 1 summit to send a positive signal to the 
Ukrainian people and reinforce support for the Ukrainian 
government's pro-European policies.  She noted that the EU 
granted Ukraine market economy status, but acknowledged that 
Ukraine is unlikely to meet conditions for WTO entry in the 
near future, and certainly not by the Hong Kong ministerial. 
Regarding Ukraine's engagement with Belarus, Kolecka agreed 
that high-level contacts may be counterproductive, remarking 
that Poland had rejected Ukrainian proposals to join in 
discussions with Lukashenko, but suggested that this may be a 
"learning process" for the Ukrainians. 
 
5. (C) Bosnia and Kosovo: Poland is delighted that Bosnia has 
made enough progress to allow for SAA negotiations to begin 
as we mark the tenth anniversary of the Dayton accords, 
Kolecka said, while observing that the EU must continue to 
assist Bosnian authorities in addressing their many 
institutional weaknesses.  She noted that, although Poland 
has backed the Czech candidate to succeed Ashdown, the German 
candidate must be seen as the front-runner.  Poland's 
position on Kosovo tracks closely with our points, Kolecka 
reported, but explained that Kosovo will not be discussed at 
the upcoming GAERC. 
 
6. (C) Syria: Kolecka stated that Poland agrees entirely with 
the U.S. approach on Syria, which is not currently on the 
GAERC agenda.  Poland has no plans to meet with the Syrian 
delegation at the Barcelona Process summit, she said. 
 
7. (C) WTO: Poland's position, supporting the European 
Commission's October 28 offer, has not changed, Kolecka 
reported.  At this point, she said, it is difficult to 
foresee a breakthrough in advance of Hong Kong and we must 
begin to look toward drawing up an agenda of priorities for 
next year to ensure that the process does not become 
completely stalled. 
HILLAS