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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BANGKOK 000341 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NSC FOR LIZ PHU 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/31/2018 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PREF PHUM KPAO KDEM BM TH
SUBJECT: EU ENVOY FOR BURMA MAKES LITTLE HEADWAY WITH THAIS 
 
REF: 07 BANGKOK 5620 
 
BANGKOK 00000341  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission James F. Entwistle, reason 1.4 ( 
b) and (d). 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1. (C) The RTG had little to offer the EU Special Envoy for 
Burma, who in turn presented no details or clarifications on 
what he thought the region should do about Burma.  While he 
met with a wide cross section of actors that focus on Burma, 
including NGOs, ASEAN diplomats, and members of the UN 
family, Piero Fassino remained in listening mode for most of 
his meetings.  His statements to the press repeated much of 
the rhetoric he has used before, namely that opposition 
leader Aung San Suu Kyi should be freed from house arrest and 
that the Burmese regime should begin inclusive dialogue aimed 
at national reconciliation.  Overall, the visit did not 
generate any major breakthroughs, though Fassino was limited 
by the fact that Thailand's recently elected government has 
yet to make known its position on Burma.  Fassino indicated 
that he would return to Bangkok in March to meet the newly 
appointed Foreign Minister and Thai government "Burma Team." 
END SUMMARY. 
 
--------------------------------- 
MFA MEETING A WASH FOR BOTH SIDES 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (C) During his January 29-30 stop in Bangkok on his 
regional tour to drum up support for a political solution in 
Burma, EU Special Envoy for Burma Piero Fassino met with 
outgoing Foreign Minister Nitya Pibulsonggram.  Their thirty 
minute conversation proved disappointing for both sides, 
according to French Deputy Chief of Mission Pascal Ledeunff 
and Thai MFA Burma Desk Officer Jirusaya Birananda, who spoke 
with us after the meeting.  According to our contacts, 
Fassino walked out frustrated with Thailand's continued 
inaction on Burma, and Nitya left with a sense that the EU 
envoy did not appreciate Thailand's position. 
 
¶3. (C) Ledeunff explained that Fassino passed a clear message 
to the Thais: Burma remained high on the EU agenda.  His 
appointment as Special Envoy for Burma was designed to 
support the efforts of the UN's Ibrahim Gambari, with whom he 
described having a good working relationship.  Fassino 
described sanctions as only part of the EU strategy for 
Burma, and emphasized that "they are a tool, not a goal."  He 
encouraged the Thais to work with other countries in the 
region to develop a strategy that balanced their concern for 
stability in Burma with the calls for human rights and 
democracy coming from the international community. 
 
¶4. (C) Meanwhile, Jirusaya stated that Nitya, accompanied by 
the MFA's leading expert on Burma, Kallayana 
Vipattipumiprates, bristled at Fassino's implication that 
Thailand had not done enough on Burma.  Nitya defended the 
Thai position and explained to Fassino that the RTG had 
engaged the Burmese government for the past forty years. 
While Nitya agreed that the status quo was not acceptable, he 
believed that there still existed room for cooperation with 
the Burmese government.  Nitya pressed Fassino for 
clarification about what the EU expected the RTG to do about 
Burma, to which Fassino had no clear response.  Jirusaya 
explained that the Thais had expected more from the EU envoy. 
 
BANGKOK 00000341  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
¶5. (C) Both diplomats agreed on the importance of continued 
support for Gambari's efforts.  Nitya referenced French 
Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner's proposal to offer 
economic incentives to the Burmese regime, and suggested the 
EU consider how to implement this idea (reftel).  Fassino 
noted that the EU would continue to increase financial 
assistance "directly to the Burmese people" either via 
programs operating inside the country or cross-border 
projects. 
 
----------------------------------------- 
FASSINO LISTENS TO VIEWS OF CIVIL SOCIETY 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (C) EU Political Attache Isabell Poppelbaum told us that 
Fassino had a steep learning curve when it came to Burma. One 
of the primary objectives of his visit to Thailand was to 
gain a better understanding of the regional perspective and 
the myriad array of actors working on Burma out of Thailand. 
Fassino met with leading personalities known for their 
commitment to Burma, such as former senator Kraisak 
Choonhavan and Chulalongkorn University Professor Panitan 
Wattanayagorn.  To buttress his calls for support from the 
region, Fassino held a separate session with ASEAN country 
Ambassadors to Thailand. 
 
¶7. (C) To help Fassino better understand the complexities of 
the world of humanitarian assistance inside Burma, the EU 
arranged for the UN Coordinator in Rangoon, as well as the 
directors of the Burma programs for Populations Services 
International (PSI), Save the Children, and Medecins Sans 
Frontieres-Holland, to travel out to Bangkok to meet with the 
EU Envoy.  Poppelbaum explained that the purpose of that 
meeting was to illustrate to Fassino that, though difficult, 
it was not impossible for humanitarian assistance to work 
inside Burma.  At the same time, the relief organizations 
highlighted the need for increased funding to humanitarian 
assistance programs, particularly in the health and education 
sectors, which had all but been abandoned by the Burmese 
government.  They believed that many local Burmese 
organizations maintained the capacity to accept increased 
funding, and asked Fassino to take that message back to the 
EU. 
 
¶8.  (C) In a final gesture of goodwill, Fassino also met with 
Burmese political activists based in Thailand.  Participants 
included representatives from the National Coalition of the 
Union of Burma (NCUB), the National Coalition Government of 
the Union of Burma, the Burma Lawyer's Council, and the 
Ethnic Nationalities Council.  NCGUB council member Sann Aung 
told us that the opposition representatives had a good 
meeting with Fassino, and that Fassino recounted the results 
of his meetings with world leaders.  According to Sann Aung, 
while many leaders in the region focused on the need for 
stability in Burma, Fassino emphasized the importance of 
pairing stability with democracy.  Ledeunff stated that the 
political opposition leaders told Fassino that they sought 
dialogue with the regime to work towards national 
reconciliation, not outright regime change.  Fassino later 
told Ledeunff, however, that he had the sense that the 
Burmese were saying what they thought Fassino wanted to hear, 
not necessarily expressing their true point of view. 
 
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COMMENT 
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BANGKOK 00000341  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
¶9. (C) While Fassino's visit may not have resulted in any 
major breakthroughs on the diplomatic front, it did prove 
useful for his own education about the situation in Burma. 
Our EU and French contacts both mentioned that Fassino was 
satisfied with the visit in that he had the opportunity to 
meet alot of the relevant actors.  We are not surprised that 
Fassino and Nitya were mutually disappointed by the lack of 
substance in their meeting, but this did not represent a lost 
opportunity, given the timing of the visit -- Nitya is days 
away from the end of his term as Foreign  Minister, and he is 
unlikely to have much influence over foreign policy in the 
new government. 
JOHN