VZCZCXRO0707
OO RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMA RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHPOD RUEHRN
RUEHTRO
DE RUEHSW #0923/01 2611501
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 181501Z SEP 07
FM AMEMBASSY BERN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4506
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNMEU/EU INTEREST COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHMFITT/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BERN 000923 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/AGS (MOON/TRICK/SAINT-ANDRE) AND EUR/INR 
(KEETON) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: MARR MASS PREL AF SZ
SUBJECT: D/EUCOM GEN WARD DISCUSSES ENGAGEMENT IN AFRICA 
WITH TOP SWISS OFFICIALS 
 
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Summary 
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¶1. (SBU) During a September 7 office meeting with Swiss 
DefMin Schmid, and a subsequent joint MFA/MOD roundtable 
discussion, Deputy EUCOM Commander General Ward and senior 
Swiss MFA and MOD officials exchanged views on efforts to 
enhance African security and stability.  DefMin Schmid 
characterized Swiss interests as "nearer" to Africa than 
Afghanistan, referring specifically to migration from North 
Africa.  GEN Ward praised Switzerland's engagement in 
Afghanistan and Africa.  He observed that the implications 
for international security of events in Afghanistan remain 
extremely important.  He encouraged Schmid to retain the 
current Swiss contributions in Afghanistan.  GEN Ward 
explained that EUCOM is working to strengthen interagency and 
international civil-military cooperation in Africa to ensure 
that military tasks performed by EUCOM most effectively 
support African stability.  Swiss officials emphasized that 
civil-military cooperation is an important component of Swiss 
national security strategy.  They suggested that Switzerland 
possibly could be a good interlocutor for EUCOM regarding 
Africa.  Asked by the Swiss officials to elaborate on DoD 
plans to establish a new unified Command for Africa -- 
AFRICOM -- GEN Ward underlined that, pending Senate 
confirmation of his nomination to be the first AFRICOM 
Commander, he could only comment in general terms from his 
EUCOM perspective.  He said that AFRICOM was intended to 
build on and enhance EUCOM's long-standing engagement in 
Africa, and that the emphasis was projected to be on 
partnering and capacity building with African nations and 
organizations.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (U) DefMin Office Meeting Participants: 
 
- USG: 
-- GEN Ward, Deputy EUCOM Commander; 
-- COL Cypher-Erickson, DATT, Embassy Bern 
-- COL Beene, Deputy POLAD, EUCOM 
-- COL Bender, Executive Officer to D/EUCOM 
 
- Swiss: 
-- DefMin Samuel Schmid 
-- AMB Raimond Kunz, Director for Security and Defense 
Policy, MOD 
 
¶3. (U) Roundtable Participants: 
 
- USG: 
-- GEN Ward, Deputy EUCOM Commander; 
-- CDA Carter, Embassy Bern; 
-- COL Cypher-Erickson, DATT, Embassy Bern 
-- COL Beene, Deputy POLAD, EUCOM 
-- COL Bender, Executive Officer to D/EUCOM 
 
- Swiss: 
-- AMB Anton Thalmann, Deputy Political Director, MFA 
-- AMB Thomas Greminger, Head of Political Division IV - 
Human Security, MFA 
-- AMB Raimond Kunz, Director for Security and Defense 
Policy, MOD 
-- AMB Jacques Pitteloud, Head of the Center for Security 
Policy, MFA 
-- MG Urban Siegenthaler, Swiss Defense Attache, Washington, 
D.C. 
-- COL Urs Gerber, Deputy Chief of Staff for International 
Relations, MOD 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
DefMin Schmid - Swiss "Nearer" to Africa than Afghanistan 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
¶4. (SBU) DefMin Schmid characterized Swiss interests as 
"nearer" to Africa than Afghanistan, referring specifically 
to migration from North Africa.  He explained that Swiss 
contributions to stability usually take place under a 
multilateral umbrella, since the Swiss often need logistical 
assistance from others (Note:  Swiss law also requires a UN 
mandate for the deployment of Swiss military personnel 
outside of Switzerland.  End note).  The focus is first and 
foremost on humanitarian assistance.  Schmid also commented 
that French-speaking Swiss soldiers can be particularly 
helpful on such missions.  AMB Kunz noted that Schmid is 
 
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planning a trip to Africa at the end of November to reinforce 
Swiss engagement in Africa. 
 
¶5. (SBU) GEN Ward described EUCOM's objectives in Africa, 
emphasizing the USG's interest in supporting stability by 
strengthening civil-military cooperation there.  He praised 
Switzerland's engagement in Afghanistan and Africa, and 
commended Schmid for being proactive in the realization that 
events far from Switzerland can have a significant impact on 
Swiss interests.  In that context, GEN Ward observed that the 
implications for international security of events in 
Afghanistan remain extremely important.  He noted that the 
Swiss bring with them their strong international reputation 
to their contributions.  Therefore, even though their numbers 
may be small, as in Afghanistan, such Swiss contributions are 
still very significant.  GEN Ward encouraged Schmid to retain 
the current Swiss contributions in Afghanistan.  He also 
suggested that Switzerland participate in the Africa 
Clearinghouse, given Swiss engagement in Africa. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
EUCOM in Africa:  Looking for Partners 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) GEN Ward explained that EUCOM is working to 
strengthen interagency and international civil-military 
cooperation in Africa to ensure that military tasks performed 
by EUCOM most effectively support African stability.  He 
emphasized that EUCOM is not looking to take on development 
tasks, but to provide the best possible support to such 
efforts.  Against that backdrop, he said that EUCOM is very 
interested in working with international partners, seeking to 
benefit from their experiences in the region while 
de-conflicting activities and sharing the ample workload. 
GEN Ward also underlined that EUCOM seeks to "look at Africa 
as Africans look at Africa," and views the African Union and 
its five Regional Economic Communities (and their planned 
standby brigades) as providing a useful framework for 
cooperation, over and beyond continued bilateral initiatives. 
 He observed that EUCOM is widely engaged in Africa, focusing 
on capacity building aimed at mitigating dangers to Africans 
and to the wider international community. 
 
----------------------------------------- 
Swiss Engagement in Africa:  Crisis Tools 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) AMB Thalmann welcomed GEN Ward's message, saying 
that Europe is very sensitive to attempts to "solve every 
problem (purely) militarily."  He remarked that 
civil-military cooperation is an important component of Swiss 
national security strategy, and that Switzerland's militia 
tradition (i.e., reliance on part-time soldiers) reinforces 
the Swiss military's ability for civ-mil engagement.  In that 
respect, he said that Switzerland possibly could be a good 
interlocutor for EUCOM regarding Africa.  AMB Greminger 
reported that Switzerland's engagement in Africa is focused 
on Burundi and Sudan/Darfur, and to a lesser degree Somalia 
and Chad.  He observed that Switzerland had developed a 
number of tools for its international security engagement 
under the rubric of "civilian peace promotion," a concept he 
noted that the EU would refer to as "crisis management."  He 
listed those five "tools" as: 
 
-- using "good offices" to facilitate conflict resolution 
(e.g., Columbia, Nepal, Burundi, Uganda); 
-- "conflict transformation" through the promotion of 
dialogue, small arms reduction, and transitional justice; 
-- providing "civilian specialists," particularly police and 
legal experts, in support of multilateral peacekeeping 
efforts; 
-- "diplomatic initiatives," normally launched within 
multilateral frameworks (e.g., an initiative to mark/trace 
small arms); 
-- and "strategic partnerships" with institutions to mobilize 
expertise (e.g., the Geneva Center for Democratic Control of 
Armed Forces). 
 
¶8. (SBU) AMB Pitteloud commented that, following the end of 
the Cold War, Africa largely was neglected.  He argued that 
the international community is only now starting to realize 
that Sub-Saharan poses emerging major security challenges 
(i.e., "not just humanitarian and migration issues").  He 
said that one important goal should be to provide increased 
 
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training to Sub-Saharan militaries.  Pitteloud also expressed 
concern that some African countries could descend into chaos, 
and that there may be an increased need to review 
arrangements for evacuations of third country nationals.  In 
that connection, he noted that Switzerland often partners 
with France, but that there may be some areas where France or 
other European partners do not have the wherewithal and where 
Switzerland might possibly look to the USG. 
 
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AFRICOM 
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¶9. (SBU) Asked by the Swiss participants to elaborate on DoD 
plans to establish a new unified Command for Africa -- 
AFRICOM -- GEN Ward underlined that, pending confirmation by 
the U.S. Senate of his nomination to be the first AFRICOM 
Commander, he could only comment in general terms from his 
EUCOM perspective.  He said that AFRICOM was intended to 
build on and enhance EUCOM's long-standing engagement in 
Africa, and that the emphasis was projected to be on 
partnering and capacity building with African nations and 
organizations.  No large U.S. military garrisons were 
envisioned, and the location of the headquarters and any 
other associated elements was still to be determined.  He 
stressed that more consultation and analysis was necessary 
before such key decisions could be made. 
CONEWAY