VZCZCXYZ0006
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHC #4079 0151512
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 151502Z JAN 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO AMEMBASSY WARSAW IMMEDIATE 0000

UNCLAS STATE 004079 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: MARR MASS MCAP PL
SUBJECT: U.S.-POLAND STRATEGIC COOPERATION - RESPONSE TO 
POLAND'S NON-PAPER 
 
¶1. (U) This is an action request.  Post is requested to 
provide to the appropriate officials the text in paragraph 3 
as the U.S. response to the Polish Memorandum on Strategic 
Cooperation.  The text of the original Polish memorandum is 
included for reference in paragraph 4. 
 
¶2. (U) Background: On November 7, Polish Ambassador Kupiecki 
presented A/S Fried with a proposal on U.S.-Polish strategic 
cooperation. The text included in paragraph 3 below is the 
U.S. response to the Polish memorandum. 
 
¶3. BEGIN TEXT OF U.S. MEMORANDUM 
 
MEMORANDUM ON U.S.-POLISH STRATEGIC COOPERATION 
 
The United States shares Poland's satisfaction with the 
signing of the Agreement Between the Government of the United 
States of America and the Government of the Republic of 
Poland Concerning the Deployment of Ground-Based Ballistic 
Missile Defense Interceptors in the Territory of the Republic 
of Poland, as well as the issuance of accompanying 
Declaration on Strategic Cooperation, as expressed in the 
Polish Memorandum of November 7, 2008. 
 
The prospective Missile Defense (MD) deployment constitutes 
one element of our broader strategic partnership and the 
extensive security cooperation - both bilateral and 
multilateral - between our governments.  In addition to our 
well established security cooperation dating back nearly 20 
years, the United States and Poland are negotiating a 
bilateral Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) to supplement the 
NATO SOFA, cooperating on the modernization of the Polish 
Armed Forces, exploring enhanced economic, scientific and 
industrial cooperation, deploying and operating jointly in 
Afghanistan and elsewhere around the world and otherwise 
working to support and improve international security. 
 
The Strategic Dialogue (SD) launched in September 2004 
established an ongoing mechanism for high-level consultations 
on the full range of bilateral issues.  The Strategic 
Cooperation Consultative Group (SCCG) began work in February 
2008 and was included in the Declaration on Strategic 
Cooperation issued in August 2008.  The Declaration on 
Strategic Cooperation also established the High Level Defense 
Group (HLDG) as a forum for DOD-MOD consultations on a wide 
range of issues. 
 
Following on the Polish proposal, the United States therefore 
envisions the following structure for and relationship 
between the SD, SCCG and HLDG, subject to further 
consultations and approval by the incoming administration. 
 
STRATEGIC DIALOGUE 
 
The United States agrees with Poland that the Strategic 
Dialogue should serve as a forum for regular political 
consultations concerning a broad scope of current issues.  It 
should be co-chaired by the senior officials from the U.S. 
Department of State and the Polish Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs, with participation as appropriate from other 
ministries, departments or agencies on both sides.  (The 
question of participation by members of either state's 
legislative branch, or by individuals or institutions outside 
of government, would have to be addressed separately.)  The 
SD should ideally meet on an annual basis, with each meeting 
focused on one agreed broad topic (e.g. new NATO Strategic 
Concept, Russia) in all its facets and details.  For the 
United States, the Assistant Secretary for European Affairs 
would chair this group.  The State Department's Bureau of 
European and Eurasian Affairs would serve as the U.S. 
coordinating body for the SD.  The United States agrees that 
it would be appropriate for the Departm 
ent of America of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to serve as 
the coordinating institution on the Polish side; the Polish 
side will assign the appropriate official as its chair. 
 
The United States believes that the establishment of a 
working group on Energy Security should fall under the 
auspices of the SD.  The United States recognizes the issue 
as a high priority both in our bilateral and multilateral 
cooperation.  This Working Group could also usefully interact 
with the existing Commercial Dialogue managed by the U.S. 
Department of Commerce and the Polish Ministry of Economy. 
 
STRATEGIC COOPERATION CONSULTATIVE GROUP 
 
The SCCG should serve as a forum for consultations between 
the two governments on security topics and defense 
cooperation.  The United States agrees that the SCCG should 
support implementation of the Declaration on Strategic 
Cooperation, missile defense agreement, supplemental SOFA, 
BMD Framework Agreement, and other related implementing 
agreements.  The SCCG should be a forum for discussing 
defense cooperation between the U.S. and Poland.  It should 
be co-chaired on the U.S. side by the Under Secretary of 
State for Arms Control and International Security and on the 
Polish side by the Under Secretary of State from the Polish 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with participation as 
appropriate from other ministries, departments or agencies. 
The SCCG should meet annually.  The SCCG will include a 
Working Group on Political Military Cooperation which will 
cover issues related to defense cooperation and trade between 
the U.S. and Poland.  This group will be chaired for the U.S. 
by the Assistant Secretary of State for 
Political Military Affairs.  Other SCCG working groups, 
co-chaired by representatives of the appropriate institutions 
from each side, could meet as appropriate. 
 
A Non-Proliferation Working Group (NPWG) and Counter 
Terrorism Working Group (CTWG) should fall under the auspices 
of the SCCG.  The NPWG would be led on the U.S. side by the 
State Department's Bureau of International Security and 
Nonproliferation.  The CTWG would be led on the U.S. side by 
the Office of the State Department's Coordinator for 
Counter-Terrorism. 
 
HIGH LEVEL DEFENSE GROUP 
 
The High Level Defense Group (HLDG) will serve as a channel 
of dialogue between the U.S. Department of Defense and the 
Polish Ministry of Defense.  The HLDG would be co-chaired by 
a U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense and the appropriate 
counterpart from the Polish Ministry of Defense.  The HLDG 
should also meet annually, ideally following the most recent 
Strategic Dialogue.  It will also be a venue for discussing 
defense cooperation and defense-related issues as well as 
address operational issues of cooperation between the U.S. 
and Polish defense establishments.  The structure of the HLDG 
will be determined through consultations between the U.S. DOD 
and the Polish MOD. 
 
TIMETABLE AND RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE SD, SCCG AND HLDG 
 
The United States agrees with the goal of holding the next 
meeting of the SCCG if at all possible before or following 
the February NATO Defense Ministerial in Krakow.  The next 
Strategic Dialogue could be held after February. 
 
END TEXT OF U.S. MEMORANDUM 
 
¶4. (U) The text of the November 13 Polish Memorandum on 
Strategic Cooperation is included below for reference. 
 
BEGIN TEXT OF POLISH MEMORANDUM: 
 
MEMORANDUM ON POLISH-US STRATEGIC COOPERATION 
 
Poland expresses great satisfaction at the signing with the 
United States on August 20 2008 of the Agreement on the 
deployment in the RP of an interceptor base, constituting 
part of the American Missile Defense System (MD), and the 
adoption by the two states of the Declaration on Strategic 
Cooperation. We are confident that the deployment of elements 
of the MD on our territory will strengthen the security of 
Poland, the U.S. and the entire Transatlantic area, 
permitting effective defense against missile threats, 
including those involving weapons of mass destruction. 
 
Cooperation between Poland and the United States in the 
sphere of missile defense and modernization of the Polish 
Armed Forces, augmented with economic, scientific and 
industrial cooperation, opens a new chapter in the history of 
Polish-American strategic partnership. The enhanced 
cooperation between the two states points to the desirability 
of reviving the Polish-US formula of Strategic Dialog, 
launched in 2004, and the elaboration of an agenda for the 
Strategic Cooperation Consultative Group - SCCG. 
 
WITH REGARD TO THE STRATEGIC DIALOG, we propose the following: 
 
(1) The Strategic Dialog should serve as a forum for regular 
political consultations concerning a broad scope of current 
international security problems (security structure); 
 
(2) Every meeting of the Strategic Dialog, beside a short 
general session, should include detailed, multifaceted 
discussion on a selected topic agreed on by the Parties 
(e.g., situation within NATO, relations with Russia). That 
formula would permit a thorough debate on the given problem, 
its consequences, possible options for its resolution, 
potential initiatives, etc., 
 
(3) Strategic Dialog meetings should take place once a year; 
 
(4) The meetings would be held at a high level (MFA of the RP 
- U.S. State Department), and in the event of a concurrence 
with other visits - at an even higher level; 
 
(5) The composition of the delegations would be very 
flexible, providing for the inclusion of representatives of 
various government institutions, parliamentarians and NGO 
representatives. 
 
The coordinating institution of the Strategic Dialog on the 
Polish side would be the Department of America of the 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 
 
WITH REGARD TO THE SCCG, the Polish side proposes the 
following: 
 
(1) The SCCG should be a forum for a regular exchange of 
views and consultations on matters relating to bilateral 
cooperation in the sphere of security and cooperation; 
 
(2) The SCCG should support the fulfillment of the 
Declaration on Strategic Cooperation, the Agreement on the MD 
base, and other accords (e.g., SOFA Supplemental, Framework 
agreement on economic, scientific and technological 
cooperation) and implementing agreements; 
 
(3) The SCCG should be a forum for reviewing and long-term 
programming of cooperation relating to the modernization of 
the Polish Armed Forces (assessment of reports by the 
High-Level Defense Group); 
 
(4) The SCCG should be a forum for supporting and determining 
the directions of development of economic and 
scientific-technological cooperation and defense industry 
cooperation; 
 
(5) SCCG meetings should take two or three times year (as 
needed); 
 
(6) SCCG meetings should take place at the level of 
under-secretaries of state of the MFA and the DOS and of the 
Ministry of National Defense of the RP and the U.S. 
Department of Defense; 
 
(7) The SCCG should remain a forum on an intergovernmental 
character. 
 
The Coordinating institution on the Polish side would be the 
Department of Security Policy of the MFA, in collaboration 
with the MOD. 
 
The Declaration on Strategic Cooperation of August 20, 2008, 
provides explicitly for the establishment of the HIGH-LEVEL 
DEFENSE GROUP (HLDG), as a sub-group of the SCCG. 
Furthermore, the Polish side proposes the establishment of 
the following bodies: 
 
(1) Working Group on WMD Nonproliferation, on the basis on 
the existent though inactive Group. It would ensure closer 
bilateral cooperation and better coordination in 
international forums, including the Krakow (PSI) Initiative. 
 
(2) Working Group on Terrorist Threats and Intelligence 
Cooperation: its establishment could take place after a 
possible absorption of the Group operating under the auspices 
of the Ministry of Interior and Administration and the U.S. 
Embassy in the RP (after prior consultations with both 
institutions). 
 
(3) Working group on scientific-technological, industrial and 
economic cooperation, including space cooperation: with 
regard to the Framework Agreement on economic and 
scientific-technological cooperation, the Group could 
initially supports the process of the related negotiations 
and, subsequently, the implementation of the Agreement. It 
could also promote joint projects and facilitate contacts 
between research-development centers in the two countries. 
With regard to technological-industrial cooperation, the 
group would be tasked with deepening cooperation in the 
sphere of research and development, defense production and 
the eradication of possible obstacles encountered by the 
Polish and American defense industry companies. 
 
(4) Working group on energy security: the group could 
constitute a forum for detailed dialog with the US on the 
respective aspects of energy security. It could also provide 
consulting and support for Poland's diversification projects 
(e.g., in Central Asia and the Middle East), promotion of 
direct U.S. investments in Poland and joint ventures in third 
markets. 
 
TIMETABLE OF SCCG AND STRATEGIC DIALOGUE COOPERATION: 
 
Poland proposes that the next SCCG meeting be held between 
the meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels in December 
2008 and the meeting of NATO defense ministers in Krakow in 
February 2009. We want it to be devoted to an exchange of 
opinions and an attempt to elaborate the framework of future 
strategic cooperation, based on the Declaration on Strategic 
Cooperation of August 20 2008. 
 
Furthermore, we feel that a Strategic Dialog meeting should 
be held next year and be devoted to the new strategic concept 
of NATO. 
 
END TEXT OF POLISH MEMORANDUM 
RICE