Tuesday, 28 July 2009, 02:18
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 STATE 078274
SIPDIS
EO 12958 DECL: 07/14/2019
TAGS OVIP (CLINTON, HILLARY), PGOV, PREL, KDEV, ECON,
NL, IS, SR
SUBJECT: (U) Secretary Clinton's July 14 conversation
with Dutch Foreign Minister Verhagen
1. Classified by Bureau Assistant Secretary Philip H. Gordon. Reason: 1.4 (d)
2. (U) July 14; 2:45 p.m.; Washington, DC.
3. (SBU) Participants:
U.S. The Secretary Charge Michael Gallagher EUR A/S Philip H. Gordon PA Spokesperson Ian Kelly Executive Assistant Joe Macmanus NSC Director for Europe Toby Bradley Valerie Belon (EUR Notetaker)
The Netherlands FM Maxime Verhagen Ambassador Renee Jones-Bos Pieter De Gooijer, MFA Political Director General Jack Twiss, Embassy Political Counselor Marcel de Vink, Private Secretary Bart Rijs, MFA Spokesman
4. (C) SUMMARY. The Secretary met July 14 with Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen, following Prime Minister Balkenende's morning meeting with President Obama. They discussed strategic and operational coordination in Afghanistan, noting initiatives to improve cell phone communications and a southern airfield. Verhagen expressed satisfaction with the President's invitation to PM Balkenende to attend the upcoming G20 summit in Pittsburgh. They discussed next steps to establish an objective metric to assess Serbian cooperation with the ICTY, noting FM Verhagen's continued skepticism that Serbia was fully cooperating on investigations. EUR A/S Gordon thought feedback from teams implementing U.S. assistance should provide a better idea of any gap between Serbian promises and actions. FM Verhagen said he was closely and optimistically following progress toward a re-start of Middle East peace talks and, less optimistically, events in Iran, offering to help better align European positions to support U.S. efforts. END SUMMARY.
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Afghanistan
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5. (C) The Secretary said she looked forward to continuing Dutch advice about our strategic approach in Afghanistan. The U.S. strategy owed a lot to the 3-D approach (defense, diplomacy, development) that the Dutch had pioneered. On the future level of Dutch activities in Afghanistan, FM Verhagen noted PM Balkenende had made clear in his morning meeting with President Obama that although there were differences within the Dutch coalition government that were still being worked out, he was convinced the Dutch would stay in some capacity in Afghanistan and continue to build on their experience with the 3D approach. He viewed fighting corruption and supporting democratic elections as key elements of the current focus in Afghanistan.
6. (C) When the Secretary mentioned the U.S. initiative to locate new cell phone towers on outposts that we control, Verhagen agreed to look into doing the same at Dutch bases in the south. Up to then, the Taliban had been very successful at making cell communication "go dark" at night, hampering the U.S. ability to communicate. The Secretary also said that the successful cell phone tax should be applied to insurance needed to protect against damage and sabotage of cell phone towers. Verhagen highlighted a Dutch initiative to expand the U.S.-built airfield in Tarin Kowt, the capital of Uruzgan, noting that making it available for civilian use would make security investments more sustainable.
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7. (C) The Secretary welcomed Dutch participation in the G20 Pittsburgh Summit, and noted, in particular, the credibility the Dutch brought to development issues as a world leader in foreign development assistance. Verhagen said the GONL welcomed the invitation to the G20 meeting.
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Serbia
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8. (C) The Secretary said the United States understood Dutch concerns about Serb cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia (ICTY) and was looking for an objective metric to measure cooperation. Verhagen welcomed the U.S. offer to share feedback from an FBI fugitive recovery team dispatched to Belgrade. Verhagen agreed the Serbs had made progress, but remained concerned that they were not cooperating "to the maximum," according to the prosecutor's recent report. He agreed that a more pro- European government was unlikely, but the EU Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) could not be unblocked without full cooperation with the ICTY, which provided for the extradition of Ratko Mladic to The Hague. Verhagen expressed concern that the Serbs might make promises and fail to deliver, and the Dutch offers of assistance had not been accepted. Further, Dutch proposals to look into other EU sweeteners that fell short of implementing the SAA had also been rejected. "Serbian leaders are only interested in an SAA; they say one thing in person, another to the international press, and another to their own publics," Verhagen said. A/S Gordon said the FBI team would provide a better idea of what gap remained between Serbian promises and actions.
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Development Assistance
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9. (SBU) The Secretary also credited the Dutch as a leading donor country. She asked Verhagen for his advice on establishing metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of international development activities. She added that as the United States embarked on the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR), she would be very interested in learning from the Dutch experience.
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Middle East Peace
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10. (C) FM Verhagen briefly raised his visit to Israel three weeks earlier; he had been closely following events, including the cancellation of Special Envoy Mitchell's planned visit, President Obama's statement, and Netanyahu's response. Verhagen said that he was indeed convinced that we could reach a breakthrough and that all sides wanted a re-start, including Syria, which he also had visited. However, a trigger was needed, which he suggested could be a moratorium on all settlement construction. The Secretary agreed that if the Israelis agreed to any moratorium, however defined, it would be unprecedented and extraordinarily significant. The Palestinians had moved against Hamas and other militants, but the Arabs had been slow to show they were also serious, she added.
11. (C) Verhagen said he was willing to be helpful to ensure the EU moved with the United States. He asked for U.S. reaction to Solana's proposed timeline, and the Secretary responded that, although Solana's speech had been excellent, there really could be no timeline for Middle East peace until negotiations resumed. She emphasized that the Quartet had been very helpful. Verhagen said he had asked Solana to set up an action plan for the EU to help implement a peace agreement, once it had been achieved. He also noted the Dutch were a main donor to the Palestinian Authority, assisting with prisons and security in Jenin as well as a large agricultural project in Gaza, for which the Dutch had secured Israeli agreement to keep the border open for
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Iran
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12. (C) FM Verhagan expressed concern about Iran and proposed discussions on what to do if the United Nations Security Council proved unwilling to act. Europe and the United States should act together, but the EU was not united. Any U.S. and EU sanctions packages should be identical, in his view. CLINTON
