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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRUSSELS 001023 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
C O R R E C T E D COPY: PARAGRAPH NUMBER CORRECTED. 
 
STATE FOR SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE HOLBROOKE, EUR/WE, EUR/RPM 
AND SCA/A 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL MOPS EAID AF BE
SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE HOLBROOKE'S 
MEETING WITH BELGIAN FOREIGN MINISTER YVES LETERME 
 
BRUSSELS 00001023  001.3 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: Embassy Brussels warmly welcomes the visit 
of Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan 
Holbrooke and his meeting with newly appointed Belgian 
Foreign Minister Yves Leterme.  Since a change of government 
in late 2007, Belgium has gone from regarding its military as 
"an ennobled humanitarian agency," in the words of Defense 
Minister Pieter De Crem, to "a small, reliable to f, already 
under cons trainersn.  End SQ  Of its 120and send3rity to the airport in Kabul, has one OMLT in 
Kunduz, provides troops to a German led Provncial 
Reconstruction Team in Kunduz and bases four F-16's in 
Kandahar.  In April 2009, tQe government promised to extend 
its existing commitments through 2010, to supply a second 
OMT,  training and another PRT.  QNote: a consensus seems to 
be developing in the GOB that a PRT is too expensive for 
Belgim to run.)  It is willing to send crew for AWACQ planes 
if NATO approves that mission.  BudgeQ limitations make any 
significant increase inmilitary operations unlikely, but the 
government has promised to double its development assistance 
to 12 million euros per year in 2009 and 2010. 
 
¶3. (SBU) As more Belgian troops are sent to Afghanistan, they 
are increasingly exposed to danger.  Memories of the massacre 
of ten Belgian paratroopers in Rwanda in the early 1990's 
make the country sensitive to any possibility of harm to its 
soldiers.  The government, and especially Defense Minister De 
Crem, take frequent criticism from the press and Parliament 
for the danger, for perceived futility of the mission and for 
allegedly failing to share information with members of the 
Parliament about the soldiers' rules of engagement.  De Crem 
has successfully countered such criticism, and has begun to 
do more to argue publicly the link between terrorism in 
Europe and success or failure in Afghanistan.  Public 
acceptance of the message is important to maintaining the 
military effort (especially if it results in casualties) and 
increasing development aid.  De Crem has had to promise to 
deploy Belgian troops only in the North of Afghanistan 
(except for the F-16 crews in Kandahar and the security force 
at Kabul Airport), because the North of the country is 
perceived to be less risky.  However, Belgian troops in the 
North recently came under sustained attack while patrolling 
with the Afghan soldiers they are mentoring.  Foreign 
Minister Leterme is new, but could become more involved in 
explaining the mission to the public.  His predecessor, Karel 
De Gucht, was more skeptical of the mission and much less 
vocal in supporting it than De Crem. 
 
4.(SBU)  With budgets severely constrained by the economic 
crisis, defense spending is likely to remain static for the 
foreseeable future.  The GOB's priority will be fulfilling 
the promises it has already made to augment military 
operations with the second OMLT (now expected to arrive in 
December 2009 or January 2010 rather than September 2009 as 
originally planned), and the two new F-16's.  The Belgian 
government may be able to offer more in development 
assistance, albeit reluctantly. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Belgium has designated 18 "partner countries" to 
which it provides direct bilateral assistance administered by 
its aid agency, Belgian Technical Cooperation, with offices 
in-country.  It provides assistance to other countries, 
including Afghanistan, through grants to UN agencies, other 
 
BRUSSELS 00001023  002.4 OF 002 
 
 
international agencies and some NGO's.  Examples of Belgian 
NGO's operating in Afghanistan are Solidarite Afghanistan 
Belgique and Mothers for Peace.  In 2008, Belgium provided 7 
million euros to Afghanistan.  The 12 million euros it has 
promised for 2009 would be 0.72 percent of its 1.6 billion 
euro assistance budget for 2008.  Much of Belgium's official 
development assistance (ODA) is focused on African countries. 
 Its largest recipient, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 
received 122 million euros or 7.4 percent of total ODA in 
¶2008.  All but one of Belgium's 18 partner countries receive 
more assistance from Belgium than Afghanistan. 
 
¶6. (SBU) One area where Belgium is likely to contribute in 
the future is police training.  The Belgian Federal Police 
have recently completed a report to Minister Leterme and to 
Interior Minister Annelie Turtelboom that recommends the 
sending of two to four police trainers to join the 
EUPOL-Afghanistan training mission, if appropriate security 
protections are available to the Belgian trainers.  Leterme 
and Turtelboom must soon make a decision on whether to go 
ahead with that.  Leterme will be interested in your 
evaluation of the security aspects of the EUPOL-A mission. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Themes for press appearance:  Embassy suggests the 
following themes for your five-minute television interview 
with the Belgian press: Express strong appreciation for 
Belgium's military contributions and show familiarity with 
them.  Say that the Afghanistan operations demonstrate that 
Belgium is a trusted and capable ally in maintaining global 
security.  Acknowledge that Afghanistan operations entail 
risks, North and South, but note that U.S. and other foreign 
troops are running those risks (and more) right along with 
the Belgians.  The risks are necessary in light of the very 
real threat to Belgian, European and world security posed by 
terrorists and narcotics smugglers who would like to use 
Afghanistan as a base.  Emphasize the many needs for 
development assistance that also contribute to stability, 
discourage radicalism and encourage further Belgian 
contributions in that way.  Note progress that already has 
been made to date. 
 
¶8.  Talking points for use with Foreign Minister Leterme: 
 
-- Very much appreciate Belgium's efforts in Afghanistan, 
both military and in development assistance. 
 
-- I think you agree the success of our effort in Afghanistan 
and Pakistan is directly linked to security in Belgium, 
Europe and America.  Can you do more to help ensure that is 
understood by the Belgian public? 
 
-- There are many very important development assistance needs 
in Afghanistan. 
 
-- Will appreciate additional assistance beyond the 12 
million euros per year (approximately 0.72 percent of total 
ODA) that Belgium has promised for 2009-10. 
 
-- Understand your government is considering sending police 
trainers to join EUPOL-Afghanistan.  Your personal support 
for doing so would be much appreciated.  Will you? 
 
BUSH 
 
 
 
 
 
. 
.