VZCZCXRO4665
OO RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHFR #0560 0271731
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 271731Z JAN 06
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3548
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD PRIORITY 0410
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV PRIORITY 0482

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 000560 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/27/2016 
TAGS: PREL EUN KPAL IS HIZ FR
SUBJECT: FRENCH ON JANUARY 30 GAERC: HAMAS, IRAN, IRAQ, 
BELARUS, BALKANS 
 
REF: A. STATE 11254 
 
     ¶B. PARIS 535 
 
Classified By: Political Minister Counselor Josiah Rosenblatt for reaso 
ns 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
 ¶1. (U) Poloff delivered ref (A) points on January 24th to 
MFA's deputy of CFSP unit, Pascal LeDeunff, and discussed the 
points with him on January 27th. 
 
¶2. (C) Hamas Victory: LeDeunff referenced the January 27th 
Quartet statement and, echoing Prime Minister de Villepin's 
statement of January 26 (ref b), noted that France would 
press for an EU statement that would call on Hamas to 1) 
explicitly renounce violence, 2) recognize the right of 
Israel to exist, and 3) recognize relevant agreements, 
including the Oslo accords (NOTE: We understand from other 
sources that the words "Oslo Accords" will be replaced with 
"roadmap."  END NOTE).  France would recommend the EU speak 
with one voice.  He said that the EU would consider how to 
deal with Hamas, whether to have contact with it, given its 
position on the EU list of terrorist organizations, and 
overall, what the victory means for the peace process in the 
Middle East.  "We have more questions than answers right 
now," said LeDeunff, "but we have a little time to consider 
them." 
 
¶3. (C) Iran:  LeDeunff noted that France, the UK, and Germany 
would seek to rally their EU partners to move toward the 
involvement of the UNSC.  "We want all Europeans to agree 
that we must open a new diplomatic phase now," he said, 
noting that France would push for all EU members to agree 
that the UNSC be seized of the matter next week.  He said 
that would entail assuring some members that this does 
not/not mean that the UNSC would immediately seek to 
undertake a Chapter 7 action.  For the moment, it was 
essential that the UNSC confirm the IAEA's authority in the 
matter. 
 
¶4. (C) Iraq:  LeDeunff said there would "not be much" at the 
GAERC; he said the ministers would note the high rate of 
participation in the legislative elections, and the EU would 
encourage the continuation of the political process.  He also 
underlined that France supports the Arab League initiative to 
hold a national reconciliation conference towards the end of 
February or beginning of March.  He also said that France 
would stress the importance of a "credible horizon for the 
withdrawal of foreign forces." 
 
5 (C) Belarus:  LeDeunff noted that FM Douste-Blazy, who met 
with opposition leader Milinkevich in Paris on January 9th, 
has not yet decided if he will attend the Monday morning 
session with Milinkevich in Brussels.  LeDeunff said that at 
the GAERC itself, the ministers would discuss deploying the 
OSCE mission, and, most importantly, the proposed joint 
demarche of A/S Fried and Robert Cooper.  LeDeunff conveyed 
that the French had received word early January 27 that 
Belarus has denied a visa to A/S Fried; LeDeunff stressed 
that the French consider it "very important" that the joint 
demarche take place as soon as possible.  Monday, he said, 
the Ministers would insist on the inclusion of A/S Fried on 
the mission.  He said that Douste-Blazy would also inform his 
colleagues of his Jan. 18 dicussion with Russian FM Lavrov on 
Belarus.  Septel will follow on poloff's discussion of 
Belarus with MFA desk officer. 
 
¶6. (C) Western Balkans:  With the focus of the meeting on the 
Middle East issues and Belarus, LeDeunff said, there would be 
not much on the Western Balkans.  He said the Europeans would 
need to prepare for a police mission to Kosovo once an 
agreement on final status is reached. 
 
¶7. (C) Enlargement:  The Europeans would need to stress the 
importance of the perspective of EU membership as an 
incentive for reform.  However, he added, this has to be 
discussed within the context of the future of the EU -- i.e., 
enlargement must be put on hold until the EU works out its 
institutional shortcomings. 
Please visit Paris' Classified Website at: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm 
 
Stapleton