US embassy cable - 05MADRID4025

C O N F I D E N T I A L MADRID 004025 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/17/2015 
TAGS: KPAL, ETRD, PREL, SP 
SUBJECT: SPAIN ON THE NOVEMBER 21 GAERC 
 
REF: SECSTATE 208899 
 
Classified By: Political Counselor Kathleen Fitzpatrick for reasons 1.4 
 (b) and (d). 
 
1. (C) Poloff delivered Reftel talking points to Carlos 
Fernandez-Arias, MFA EU Policy Coordinator. Fernandez-Arias 
said that Kosovo, Syria and Ukraine were not on the 
agenda.Defense issue points were passed to contacts who deal 
with defense issues, and when post has a response, we will 
pass it to the Dept. We are also seeking more information 
about Spain's intentions in terms of bilats with Syria at the 
Barcelona Process anniversary. Any information received will 
be communicated septel. 
 
2. (C) On Iraq, Fernandez-Arias expects that the EU will 
discuss ways to support the political process and 
reconstruction. Spain maintains its Iraq Donor Conference 
commitment and will support the electoral observer mission in 
December. Spain also feels it is important to involve the 
Arab League in the process, to keep neighboring countries 
interested and involved. 
 
3. (C) Spain feels that the EU operation at the Rafa border 
crossing is of great political importance for the region, and 
is thus contributing specialized personnel. They also will 
support the Palestinian Electoral Council elections in 
January, and are hopeful they can happen peacefully. Spain is 
concerned about Israeli activity in East Jerusalem and will 
bring this up at the GAERC. 
 
4. (C) Fernandez-Arias said that Spain is in complete 
agreement with USG views on Bosnia and is hopeful that the 
SAA process can help bring about stability in the country. 
 
5. (U) Fernandez-Arias noted that Iran will also likely be a 
topic of discussion, and that the EU-3 and High Rep Javier 
Solana will update the Ministers on recent events. 
AGUIRRE