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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 STATE 020757 
 
 
C O R R E C T E D  C O P Y -- ADDING ADDEES 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/24/2019 
TAGS: OVIP CLINTON HILLARY RODHAM KDRG ENRG EUN
IZ, AF, XF, KV, SP 
SUBJECT: (U) Secretary Clinton's February 24, 2009 
Meeting with Spanish FM Moratinos 
 
STATE 00020757  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. (U) Classified by EUR Assistant Secretary Daniel 
Fried.  Reason: 1.4 (d) 
 
¶2.  (U) February 24, 2009; 9:45 a.m., Washington. 
 
¶3.  (U) Participants: 
 
U.S. 
The Secretary 
EUR Acting DAS Pamela Spratlen 
PA Robert Wood 
S Staff 
NSC Tobin Bradley 
EUR/WE Elaine Samson (EUR Notetaker) 
 
SPAIN 
FM Moratinos 
Deputy FM Angel Lossada 
DG for North America Fernandez de la Pena 
FM Chief of Staff Augustin Santos 
Ambassador Jorge Dezcallar 
DCM Jose-Pascual Marco 
 
¶4.  (C) SUMMARY: In her first meeting with Spanish FM 
Moratinos, Secretary Clinton told FM Moratinos that 
President Obama valued the leadership role that Spain 
can play.  Moratinos commended the new atmosphere 
between our two countries.  Secretary Clinton asked 
Spain to send police trainers to the NATO Training 
Mission in Iraq, to take detainees from Guantanamo, to 
contribute more troops in Afghanistan, and to work with 
us on clean energy and energy security.  FM Moratinos 
conveyed Spain's full support and commitment to working 
as partners on a number of issues:  the global financial 
crisis, Latin America, Middle East issues, North Africa, 
and Spain's 2010 EU Presidency.  The FM agreed that 
Spain would take some Guantanamo detainees, subject to 
information about their legal status, that he would 
present the request for police trainers for Iraq to 
President Zapatero with a positive recommendation; and 
that Spain would step forward to do its share in 
Afghanistan when the strategy review was done. 
Moratinos noted that, because of strained relations over 
the past several years, Spain sometimes had not been 
able to contribute even in areas where it possessed a 
natural "value added."  Secretary Clinton welcomed his 
pledge to work with the U.S..  END SUMMARY. 
 
--------------------------------- 
NATO Training Mission-Iraq (NTM-I) 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (C) Noting the respected reputation of the Spanish 
police forces, especially their performance and 
professionalism after the 2004 Madrid train bombings, 
the Secretary asked if Spain would be willing to support 
the NATO Training Mission in Iraq by contributing 
Spanish police trainers.  NTM-I was transitioning to 
concentrate on civilian support systems.  The Iraqi 
police needed help and training to carry out their 
duties.  Noting that Spain had continued contributing 
funds to Iraq through NATO and was the fourth or fifth 
largest donor, Moratinos explained that he would have to 
report this request to President Zapatero, but that his 
initial reaction was positive.  Iraq was moving into a 
post-crisis situation, and it was time to "turn the 
page" on policy differences on Iraq. 
 
----------- 
Afghanistan 
----------- 
 
¶6.  (C) The Secretary noted that within the NATO context 
we were conducting a thorough policy review on 
Afghanistan.  A successful resolution to the situtation 
 
STATE 00020757  002.3 OF 003 
 
SUBJECT: (U) Secretary Clinton's February 24, 2009 
Meeting with Spanish FM Moratin 
in Afghanistan was a test for NATO, not just the United 
States.  Moratinos said Spain awaited the results of the 
strategy review, but reassured that Spain was 
"absolutely committed," even though other countries may 
have a larger military presence.  Moratinos 
characterized Afghanistan as NATO's challenge: if NATO 
failed in Afghanistan, it would call into question the 
future of NATO.  The FM commented that he questioned how 
some policies and programs had been implemented in 
Afghanistan, noting the deteriorating security situation 
was affecting the ability to conduct humanitarian and 
development programs. 
 
¶7.  (C) The Secretary remarked that the strategy review 
provided an opportunity for shared contributions.  The 
United States was making a significant increase in the 
number of troops it was contributing, and we hoped we 
could ask our allies for more support.  Moratinos gave 
assurances that Spain would "step forward" to contribute 
more, saying that if for domestic reasons Spain could 
not increase the number of troops deployed,  the GOS 
would tell us directly and contribute more in another 
way. 
 
¶8.  (C) Secretary Clinton noted that delegations from 
Pakistan and Afghanistan were visiting Washington to 
discuss the way forward, and that the U.S. approach was 
to work with both countries in consultation and 
respectful partnerships, not to impose U.S. decisions. 
This kind of approach would lead to more sustainable 
progress.  The Secretary said any views from Spain would 
be valued and appreciated. 
 
---------- 
Guantanamo 
---------- 
 
¶9.  (U) The Secretary stated that Guantanamo was a very 
important issue for the new U.S. Administration, and we 
needed help from other countries in taking detainees. 
She noted that she had spoken recently to EU 
Commissioner Javier Solana about closing Guantanamo and 
a solution for the detainees and that the EU was 
interested in working with us.  She asked for Spain's 
help in building an EU consensus on Guantanamo 
detainees.  The FM confirmed that he had said publicly 
that Spain would help.  He added that Spain would need 
information on the legal status of Guantanamo and the 
individual detainees proposed for Spain to accept. 
 
---------- 
Middle East 
---------- 
 
¶10.  (C) The Secretary said that the United States 
needed help and international coordination for a durable 
ceasefire.  She noted the need to return to emphasizing 
a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian 
conflict, which would provide an impetus to restarting 
negotiations with the new Israeli government.  Moratinos 
described the frustration he had heard from his contacts 
over making so much progress over the past year toward a 
final deal but missing the opportunity to close the 
deal.  Moratinos put himself at the Secretary's "full 
disposal" to help on Middle East issues, but conveyed 
the need to move forward -- the quicker, the better. 
Moratinos commented on new Israeli PM Netanyahu as a 
hard, but good, serious negotiator.  Moratinos said 
Hamas must be defeated, describing the past month in 
Gaza as a disaster, with Syria and Iran helping Hamas. 
The Palestinians needed the support of the international 
community, not just support from Hamas. 
 
¶11.  (C) Moratinos predicted that Netanyahu was likely 
to move quickly on Syria and would need the United 
States.  Moratinos commented that it was a mistake to 
try to isolate Syria.  Syria played the "spoiler;" it 
wants to be engaged.  More than anything Syria wanted 
normalization of relations with the United States.  But 
it wanted complete normalization, not just bits and 
pieces, and could not be coaxed along a step-by-step 
route. 
 
------------------ 
2010 EU Presidency 
 
STATE 00020757  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶12.  (U) Moratinos urged that Spain and the United 
States start preparing now for Spain's 2010 EU 
Presidency, and stated that the US-EU Summit offered an 
opportunity for President Obama to visit Spain. 
Recalling that during Spain's EU Presidency in 1995 the 
EU had adopted the first Transatlantic Agenda, Moratinos 
commented that the United States and the EU needed a new 
transatlantic relationship for the 21st century.  Spain 
expected the Lisbon Treaty to be adopted by 2010.  Spain 
therefore would hold the first EU Presidency under the 
new EU institutional arrangements.  The Secretary agreed 
that a renewed, strong Transatlantic relationship was a 
priority for the USG.  She commended Spain for the 
progress and economic growth it had achieved over the 
past decade, as well as the institutional reforms it had 
made.  Because of this record and its participation in 
multilateral institutions, Spain could stand as an 
example for other countries. 
 
------ 
Kosovo 
------ 
 
¶13.  (C) The Secretary noted that policy differences on 
Kosovo had created some irritants in the bilateral 
relationship.  She said that the United States 
understood the sensitivity of the Kosovo issue 
domestically in Spain, but we needed to find a way to 
work through our differences.  She would look to Spain 
for ideas on Kosovo.  Moratinos protested that there was 
a misunderstanding on Kosovo.  Despite internal factors 
in Spain affecting its policy, he asserted, Spain had 
been very supportive.  He argued that he had personally 
worked to develop a new, moderate, democratic government 
in Serbia, and that in the long run these efforts would 
help Serbia come to terms with reality. 
 
----------------------- 
Global Financial Crisis 
----------------------- 
 
¶14.  (U) Moratinos expressed satisfaction that Spain was 
now included as a member of the "enlarged G-20" and that 
the United States accepted it.  Despite having grown 
from a medium-sized economy to the world's eighth 
largest economy, Spain was not a member of the P-5, the 
G-8, or the G-20 and was left out of many fora where it 
could and should contribute.  He cited a similar example 
when Spain had to fight to attend the November 2007 
Annapolis Conference, even with Spain's history (and FM 
Moratinos' long personal experience) of involvement in 
the Middle East peace process.  Since the Washington 
Summit on the Global Financial Crisis, however, Spain 
was more integrated into the groupings where it could 
make a contribution.  Moratinos expressed hope that 
Spain would have U.S. support to continue to be invited 
to these meetings. 
 
-------------------------------- 
Clean Energy and Energy Security 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶15.  (U) Secretary Clinton noted Spain's leading 
position in the clean energy sector, recounting a visit 
during the election campaign to a Spanish wind power 
project in Pennsylvania, and expressed U.S. desire to 
work with Spain and the EU on clean energy and energy 
security.  After the disruption of Russian natural gas 
supplies to Europe, it was clear that diversifying 
energy sources was critical to ensuring energy security 
for Europe and that clean energy sources were a key 
component. 
CLINTON