US embassy cable - 03FRANKFURT3665

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 FRANKFURT 003665 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/AGS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PINR, PREL, ECON, GM 
SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR MINISTER-PRESIDENT KOCH'S VISIT TO 
WASHINGTON MAY 13-15 
 
REF: A) FRANKFURT 550; B) FRANKFURT 001785 
 
1. (SBU) Summary: Hesse Minister President and Hesse CDU 
chairman Roland Koch will visit Washington for meetings with 
senior USG officials on May 13-15.  Koch is widely discussed 
as a CDU Chancellor candidate in 2006 and is in competition 
with CDU Chairperson Angela Merkel for influence in the 
party.   During his Washington visit, Koch will focus on 
international affairs, the U.S.-German relationship, 
potential U.S. military base closings in Germany, the 
aftermath of the Iraq war, U.S.-EU issues, counter-terrorism 
and security issues.  Koch also has an interest in Asia, 
particularly in increasing market access in China for German 
companies, and in the Tibet issue.  Koch's staff tells us 
his main aim for the visit is to "promote transatlantic 
partnership." End Summary. 
 
A National Player and Possible Future Chancellor Candidate 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
2.  (SBU) Koch was re-elected with an absolute majority on 
February 2, 2003, which strengthened his position in the CDU 
nationally.  Koch has frequently been discussed as a  CDU 
chancellor candidate in 2006 and is in competition with CDU 
Chairman Angela Merkel and Bavarian Minister-President 
Edmund Stoiber for influence in the party.  Relations 
between Koch and Merkel are seen as frosty, as Koch clearly 
supported Stoiber over Merkel early on in the 2000 election 
campaign.  Koch is aggressive, confident, energetic and 
ambitious.  Following a major financing scandal in the Hesse 
state CDU in 1999, he has generally done poorly in polls in 
the area of personal integrity and credibility.  That said, 
he is a gifted public speaker, telegenic and knows how to 
please a crowd on many issues.  He has recently begun to 
play down his polarizing image by seeking a more mediating 
role in national politics.  For example, he surprised many 
observers by announcing a reform plan jointly with 
Northrhine-Westphalia Minister President Peer Steinbrueck 
(SPD) with an across the board ten percent cut in public 
subsidies, though the initiative was heavily criticized from 
within his own party. 
 
Koch Interest in Economic Growth 
-------------------------------- 
 
3. (SBU) Koch has been active in the commercial and economic 
development of Hesse.  He has supported Frankfurt airport 
expansion, new biotechnology centers, and enhanced 
cooperation between universities and corporations on 
research such as between the Opel auto plant in Ruesselsheim 
and the Technical University of Darmstadt.  He seeks to make 
Frankfurt a more inviting destination for foreign investment 
and has put forward welfare, social and labor market reform 
proposals.  Koch has also been a strong supporter of nuclear 
energy and has improved the state's road infrastructure.  In 
light of deteriorating finances --Hesse slipped from being 
the number one growth state in Germany to number six -- Koch 
will want to speak with U.S. interlocutors about economic 
growth incentives and stimulus packages. 
 
Counter-Terrorism and Security 
------------------------------ 
 
4. (SBU) Koch has been active on counter-terrorism issues 
and encouraged good bilateral cooperation between law 
enforcement agencies.  (Note: The headquarters of the 
Bundeskriminalamt -- BKA -- the FBI equivalent is in 
Wiesbaden, Hesse's capital.)  He has been active in 
improving the police force in Hesse and in crime reduction 
measures such as video surveillance of main shopping areas. 
Koch was very supportive of enhanced police protection of 
U.S. installations in Hesse after September 11 and has 
spoken of the need for Germany to increase counter-measures 
against bioterrorism, such as acquiring more smallpox 
vaccine.  He expressed interest in discussing counter- 
terrorism policies in the U.S. and the role of the Office of 
Homeland Security. 
 
Koch and the U.S. 
---------------- 
 
5. (SBU) Koch is an outspoken, pro-American politician.  He 
has been very supportive of the American Chamber of 
Commerce, which has its headquarters in Frankfurt, and gave 
AmCham President Fred Irwin the state's highest honor. 
Before the Iraq war, he took a position that was supported 
the U.S. position, despite some opposition within his own 
party.  Koch has also been consistently supportive of 
American troops in Hesse, often hosting or appearing at 
events honoring the U.S. military.  Hesse has approximately 
13,000 U.S. troops stationed mainly in Giessen, Friedberg, 
Wiesbaden, Hanau, and Darmstadt.  The U.S. military in Hesse 
employs 2,544 Germans directly and an indeterminate number 
indirectly.  Koch has said he is unhappy about Round 30 
closures in coming years (2005-2008), finds it a loss for 
the U.S. German partnership and has expressed concern about 
the hundreds of German jobs that will disappear.  In an 
article on May 2 in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Koch 
especially regretted the reduction of the U.S. military 
presence in Giessen, which already has a high rate of 
unemployment.  Koch has also stated in the past that he 
understands and respects our decision and will not fight it, 
but he finds the loss of contact between the U.S. military 
population and German citizens in central Hesse to be 
regrettable in a larger sense.  Koch wants to discuss the 
future of U.S. military basing with interlocutors in 
Washington.  He may also wish to discuss the role of Europe 
in rebuilding Iraq. 
 
6. (SBU) Koch also supported the U.S. Consulate Frankfurt's 
acquiring of a property for the new Consulate building and 
has boasted of the Consulate's future expansion in Hesse as 
a positive story for the state.  He is very candid in 
meetings with U.S. officials and concerned about the 
transatlantic relationship.  After Schroeder's anti-U.S. 
election stance in late 2000, Koch was vocal in describing 
the shortsightedness of the Chancellor's statements and the 
tremendous bilateral damage they had done.  Generally, Koch 
can be considered one of the best experts on U.S. society 
and politics among German politicians and has a keen 
interest in U.S. Congressional politics.  Koch traveled to 
the U.S. in 1996 to observe the presidential election 
campaign and again in 1997 on the International Visitors 
Program.  He has also visited the U.S. numerous times 
privately.  Koch's English is excellent.  He has not used 
interpreters in past meetings with U.S. officials and is 
comfortable addressing large groups in English. 
 
BODDE