VZCZCXRO7965
RR RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLZ RUEHROV
DE RUEHTL #0432/01 1790656
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 280656Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY TALLINN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9959
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 0032

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TALLINN 000432 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL MOPS MARR EUN EN
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON ESTONIA'S DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE TO 
AFGHANISTAN 
 
REF: A) 06 TALLINN 311 B) 06 TALLINN 1131 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary.  Afghanistan remains one of the 
Government of Estonia's (GOE) highest foreign policy 
priorities.  The GOE has been increasing its direct 
development assistance to Afghanistan since 2006, to 
balance its military presence in the country.  The 
presence of Estonia's first diplomat on the ground has 
produced tangible results (e.g., hospital equipment for 
a Helmand hospital) and improved the optics of Estonia's 
presence in Helmand.  Despite recently sustaining 
casualties in Helmand, Estonia is committed to having a 
presence -- civilian and military -- in Afghanistan.  End 
Summary. 
 
Improving the Substance and Optics of Assistance 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶2. (U) Afghanistan continues to be one of Estonia's 
highest foreign policy priorities.  In January 2006, the 
GOE increased both its military contribution and 
development assistance to Helmand province in southern 
Afghanistan (Ref A).  The GOE has consistently 
highlighted its commitment to NATO's mission in 
Afghanistan with visits at the highest level by the 
Prime Minister in December 2006 (Ref B) and Defense 
Minister in September 2006 and again this coming fall. 
 
¶3. (U) Prior to 2006, the GOE's development assistance 
was limited to financial donations to international 
organizations (IOs) and NGOs operating in Afghanistan. 
From 2000 to 2005, the GOE donated $200,170 for 
humanitarian assistance and counter-narcotics programs 
to the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees 
(UNHCR), UN Development Program (UNDP), and the Red 
Cross.  However, in line with Estonia's military 
presence in Helmand, the MFA felt strongly that it 
needed to balance the optics of Estonia's presence with 
a visible development and reconstruction agenda.  As a 
result, in June 2006, the MFA sent its first diplomat to 
Afghanistan and initiated a provincial reconstruction 
project in Helmand. 
 
Work on the Ground 
------------------ 
 
¶4. (U) Estonia's assistance budget in Afghanistan is 
relatively small - $100,000 for Helmand, out of the 
MFA's total 2006 development assistance budget of $1.47 
million.  The MFA recognized that this would require 
Estonia's assistance to focus on projects where the aid 
could have an immediate and/or visible impact on the 
community.  In November 2006, the MFA initiated a 
donation of $94,453 worth of medical equipment to the 
Children's Department of Bost Hospital, Helmand 
Province's main hospital.  Recently back from 
Afghanistan, Estonia's diplomat on the ground, Toomas 
Kahur, told us that even though the hospital donation 
was important, establishing a diplomatic presence in 
Helmand was Estonia's most significant achievement in 
¶2006. 
 
¶5. (SBU) As the MFA's first major out-of-area 
development assistance project, Afghanistan has 
presented unique challenges.  Not surprisingly, 
according to Kahur, the two biggest challenges have been 
logistics and security.  Kahur spent over a third of his 
time in Afghanistan traveling between Kabul and Helmand. 
While the MFA has indicated that it would like to have 
two diplomats in Afghanistan (one in Kabul and the other 
in Helmand), it also acknowledges that personnel 
limitations make an increase in staffing unlikely in the 
short to mid-term.  The MFA is concerned that logistical 
difficulties may increase in the short term.  The 
Estonians stationed in Afghanistan, both military and 
civilian, are largely dependent on UK logistical support 
for travel between Helmand and Kabul.  Kahur said that 
due to the limited number of UK helicopters and planes, 
there were often delays.  He is concerned that these 
delays are likely to grow given that the UK took over 
responsibility for Kandahar (an important transfer hub) 
from the U.S. in June. 
 
¶6. (SBU) The security situation placed strict 
limitations on Kahur throughout his tenure.  Kahur told 
us that whenever he went outside the UK base he had to 
be escorted by an Estonian Close-Protection-Team.  This 
extra security came at the cost of mobility and, 
therefore, limited his range of operations.  Moreover, 
civilians are not allowed to leave the base when the UK 
 
TALLINN 00000432  002 OF 002 
 
 
forces deem threat levels as high.  This is a frequent 
occurrence in Helmand -- which is the epicenter of poppy 
production in Afghanistan and has seen an increase in 
the level of Taliban activity and attacks over the last 
year.  Kahur admitted that he was often far more 
productive in Kabul in exploring assistance projects for 
Helmand than in Helmand itself.  However, Kahur was 
optimistic that the widening network of contacts he 
established among NGOs, IOs, and other countries' 
missions operating in Helmand will enable the MFA to 
expand its activities in spite of the security 
restraints. 
 
¶7. (SBU) On June 27, Kahur's replacement, former 
Estonian DCM in Washington Andres Kolk, left for 
Afghanistan.  He will have an increased assistance 
budget of $120,000 for 2007 and the flexibility to 
decide on project priorities.  In the mid-term, MFA 
Security and Arms Control Director Arti Hilpus told us, 
the MFA envisions complimenting its diplomatic presence 
with an Estonian development/humanitarian assistance 
specialist, medical doctor, and/or civil engineer who 
could to take a more pro-active role in the 
implementation and supervision of assistance projects. 
Hilpus added that in the long term, he would like to see 
Estonia's development and reconstruction assistance 
become larger and more visible than Estonia's military 
contribution. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Comment.  While the MFA's 2007 assistance 
budget for Helmand is small in absolute terms, it 
represents one of the its larger projects.  Even with 
recent casualties, that included two killed, in Helmand 
on June 23 (septel), Estonia's political leaders and MOD 
and MFA interlocutors have expressed their commitment to 
Estonia's presence in Afghanistan, on both the military 
and civilian side. 
 
PHILLIPS