VZCZCXRO3116
RR RUEHSL
DE RUEHLE #0363/01 3561625
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
R 221625Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY LUXEMBOURG
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0017
INFO NATO EU COLLECTIVE
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 0001

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 LUXEMBOURG 000363 
 
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AMEMBASSY ATHENS PASS TO AMCONSUL THESSALONIKI 
AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL YEKATERINBURG 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2034/12/22 
TAGS: PGOV EAID PREL AF LU
SUBJECT: Luxembourg Director of Political Affairs and Director of 
Defense Met with West EUR Director Cormack on Afghanistan 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Via, Michael, Political and Economic Chief, DOS, Pol; 
REASON: 1.4(A), (B), (D) 
 
¶1.       (S) Summary. George Friden, Director for Political Affairs 
and Jean-Jacques Welfring, Defense Director, explained Luxembourg's 
planned contributions for Afghanistan during a December 17 visit of 
West EUR Affairs Director Maureen Cormack to Luxembourg.   Friden 
said Luxembourg was committed to the Afghanistan effort until 2011 
but the GOL had some concerns.  He stated that there was unease 
with even the perception created by the "announcement of July 2011" 
as Luxembourg "didn't want to be the ones left to turn out the 
lights."  Friden emphasized that public opinion and support for 
Luxembourg's involvement won't last forever and more "good news 
stories" needed to be forthcoming. 
 
 
 
¶2.       (S) Friden said the army was undergoing reform but there 
was no possibility in the short term of increasing the number of 
Luxembourg soldiers from their current nine, as they had 23 in 
Kosovo and others in the Congo and Bosnia.  He expects there will 
be pressure in the upcoming meetings in London to be more assertive 
on the Afghanistan corruption issue.  Cormack stated that the U.S. 
shares GOL's concerns regarding corruption and would welcome an 
E.U. partnership to manage the corruption issue, but that stating 
those concerns publicly would not be helpful.   Welfring asserted 
that the GOL was shy about going public with it's contributions for 
Afghanistan but the Minister of Defense, Jean-Marie Halsdorf, 
decided December 16 to contribute 375,000 USD  for expanded 
satellite  access during 2009 which will be expanded to three 
million USD in 2010. The satellite access support is in addition to 
other monetary contributions for efforts in Afghanistan.   End 
summary. 
 
 
 
¶3.       (C) George Friden, Director for Political Affairs and 
Jean-Jacques Welfring, Defense Director met with West EUR Affairs 
Director Maureen Cormack and Pol/Econ Chief December 17, at the 
Ministry of Defense in Luxembourg. 
 
 
 
¶4.       (C)  Cormack expressed U.S. gratitude for GOL's current 
contributions in Afghanistan, their offer of assistance with the 
relocation of Guantanamo detainees,  and the heartwarming 
commemorations ceremonies marking the 65th anniversary of the 
Battle of the Bulge which she attended on December 16.   She 
invited feedback concerning President Obama's recent Afghanistan 
announcement. 
 
 
 
¶5.       (C) Friden expressed Luxembourg's gratitude for the 
sacrifices of American soldiers to "give us our freedom."  He 
shifted to Afghanistan and said that although Luxembourg was " 
feeling the effects of the German incident in Afghanistan," the 
recent debate in the Chamber of Deputies concerning continued 
support for Luxembourg's involvement went well.  He said 59 out of 
60 votes cast were in favor of continued support for GOL's current 
military deployment and development efforts in Afghanistan. (note: 
The "incident" Friden mentioned occurred on September 4 when German 
forces in Afghanistan called in an airstrike that killed up to 142, 
many of them civilians. End note.)  He cautioned however that 
"political concerns are still strong" and there "needs to be work 
on the visibility of results" as we move forward.  He added that 
the E.U. recently adopted an action plan which he believes will 
strengthen the coordination between the civilian and security 
sectors.  According to Friden the E.U. plan calls for more trainers 
for the security sector with increasing attention to agriculture, 
schools and infrastructure.  He mentioned that although the NATO 
and Europol missions aim is to send Gendarmerie elements as they 
are police with military skills, Luxembourg's Gendarmerie was 
merged into the police some years ago and thus do not have those 
skills. 
 
 
 
¶6.       (S) Responding to Cormack's request for GOL's take on 
President Obama's Afghanistan announcement,  Friden said Luxembourg 
was committed to the Afghanistan effort until 2011 but the GOL had 
some concerns.  He stated that there was unease with the 
announcement of July 2011 as Luxembourg "didn't want to be the ones 
left to turn out the lights."  Pol/Econ Chief responded that July 
 
LUXEMBOURG 00000363  002 OF 002 
 
 
2011 was only the beginning of a withdrawal, subject to conditions 
on the ground at the time, not a firm withdrawal date.  Friden 
replied that there was concern for even the perception of a date 
for a withdrawal and "lights out." He said other concerns included 
a "general mood within the GOL and the E.U. concerning expectations 
of progress and a need to start to talk to Afghanistan regarding 
progress on corruption."  Friden emphasized that public opinion and 
support for Luxembourg's involvement won't last forever and more 
"good news stories" needed to be forthcoming.  Cormack stated that 
the U.S. shares GOL's concerns regarding corruption and would 
welcome an E.U. partnership to manage the corruption issue, but 
that stating those concerns publicly would not be helpful. Friden 
responded that he expected there would be pressure in the upcoming 
meetings in London to be more assertive on the corruption subject. 
Welfring asserted that Luxembourg public opinion was being shaped 
negatively by the German media as more Luxembourgers obtain their 
international news from German TV channels in Luxembourg than 
French stations. He said that the ascendancy of the German language 
had more to do with the number of available television channels 
from Germany than any other factor.  He added that more trips to 
Germany by GOL politicians, and the "crumbling need for French as 
one was no longer seen as lower class" if one could not speak 
French were also factors. 
 
 
 
¶7.       (C) Welfring stated the MOD's 3-D approach of Diplomacy, 
Development and Defense, which began 10 years ago, had made 
progress.  He explained that the Luxembourg Army is "Foreign Policy 
by other means" because border security is not an issue for the 
GOL.  He said the army was undergoing reform and there have been a 
number of missions that the army has not been able to perform. 
(NFI).  He explained that there was no possibility of increasing 
the number of Luxembourg soldiers from their current nine in the 
short run as they had 23 in Kosovo and others in the Congo and 
Bosnia.  Welfring asserted that the GOL was shy about going public 
with it's contributions for Afghanistan but the Minister of 
Defense, Jean-Marie Halsdorf,  decided December 16 to contribute 
375,000 USD  for satellite use where it was possible to switch "SES 
Global" commercial capabilities to military use. He said the in 
kind contributions would expand to three million USD in 2010.  He 
said Luxembourg was committed to the Afghanistan effort until 2011 
but a more integrated approach, between the civilian and military 
efforts, was needed. 
 
 
 
¶8.       (SBU) Welfring provided a spread sheet of additional 
"Afghanistan funding from Luxembourg." 
 
 
 
-          Afghanistan National Army trust fund 
6,000,000 USD for 2010 (same as 2009) 
 
-          Shape and NAMSA satellite communications (in kind) 
3,000,000 USD for 2010 (up from 375,000 in 2009) 
 
-          UN/UNDP/UNFPA/WFP/ICRC/NGOs 
3,500,000 USD for 2009 (up from 3 million in 2008) 
 
-          DPKO/UNMAS anti-mine action Afghanistan 
300,000 USD for 2009 
 
-          UNDP electoral support 
125,000 USD for 2009 
 
 
 
¶9.       (C) Comment. While the tone of the meeting was 
overwhelmingly positive it was not surprising to learn that GOL's 
additions will be primarily financial.  GOL's reticence to increase 
troops beyond nine, all presently at the Kabul airport, is likely 
more a domestic public support issue than a strategic military 
decision and therefore subject to change should sufficient "good 
news" stories overcome  current negative public perceptions. 
Luxembourg's army reform consists of a planned 40 percent expansion 
from 1000 to 1400 personnel by 2013. Portions of their expanding 
niche capabilities of water purification, Explosive Ordinance 
Disposal (EOD), and reconnaissance units are to become available as 
early as 2010 and might be units to be requested in the future. 
Evans