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C O N F I D E N T I A L HELSINKI 000817 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/16/2016 
TAGS: MARR MOPS PREL FI
SUBJECT: FINLAND SEEKS TO CONTRIBUTE 200 TROOPS TO UNIFIL 
 
REF: SECSTATE 134133 
 
Classified By: Polchief Gregory Thome, Reasons 1.4 (b and d). 
 
¶1. (SBU) Finnish MFA Secretary of State (D Equivalent) Pentti 
Torstila told Ambassador Ware Aug. 15 that Finland will seek 
to provide up to 200 additional troops for enhanced UNIFIL 
operations in Southern Lebanon.  Confirming public comments 
made by President Tarja Halonen, Torstila explained that the 
GOF's annual PKO budget (roughly USD 100 million) has already 
been appropriated for 2006 and largely committed for 2007; 
therefore supporting Finland's UNIFIL contribution will 
require a special authorization from Parliament.  However, 
the GOF is confident of Parliamentary approval and hopes the 
troops could be made available no later than October. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Torstila agreed with Ambassador that the 
international community must now unite behind a second UNSC 
resolution that authorizes UNIFIL to enforce the provisions 
of UNSC Resolution 1559.  Finland, which currently has 
soldiers in Lebanon and recently lost an officer when an 
Israeli airstrike hit a UNIFIL position, has no illusions 
about the how difficult it will be to disarm Hezbollah. 
Torstila underscored the need for the UN Security Council to 
move quickly to give UNIFIL a very strong "peace enforcement" 
mandate.  Currently, he said, UNIFIL has "failed to do its 
job" because of a "vague" mandate inadequate for the task at 
hand. 
 
¶3. (C) Finally, Torstila acknowledged that the larger EU 
member states must demonstrate leadership by making 
significant troop contributions to UNIFIL.  Because of the 
lead role France has taken (along with the US) at the UNSC -- 
as well as France's overall military capacity as compared to 
other EU states -- the French "have to take a strong role." 
However, he expressed some concern that the French have 
suddenly become reluctant to share information with EU 
partners regarding their potential UNIFIL role and 
contributions.  "Most of my information on French thinking 
comes from newspaper reports," he noted with some 
frustration.   Germany's response thus far has also been 
disappointing, and Torstila pointed to the Israeli Prime 
Minister's personal efforts to assure Berlin that "historical 
factors" between Germany and Israel are no issue and German 
troops would be welcome.  Although individual EU member 
states will make their own national troop contributions to 
UNIFIL (as opposed to EU troops under ESDP), the GOF is still 
planning, in its EU Presidenc capacity, to discuss UNIFIL 
troop contributionswith Germany, France, Italy and its 
Nordic partnrs in the coming days. 
WARE