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### Viewing cable 04THEHAGUE281,

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Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
04THEHAGUE281 | 2004-02-04 12:12 | 2011-02-02 15:03 | CONFIDENTIAL | Embassy The Hague

`

    This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

` `

    C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 THE HAGUE 000281

    SIPDIS

    FOR SECRETARY POWELL, NSA RICE, AND DEPSEC WOLFOWITZ FROM
    AMB CLIFF SOBEL

    E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/03/2014
    TAGS: AF EU IZ NL PGOV PREL SNAR TU XA XF XH NATO
    SUBJECT:...

    13722
    2004-02-04

    04THEHAGUE281

    Embassy The Hague

    CONFIDENTIAL

    C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 THE HAGUE 000281
    SIPDIS

    FOR SECRETARY POWELL, NSA RICE, AND DEPSEC WOLFOWITZ FROM
    AMB CLIFF SOBEL

    E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/03/2014

    TAGS: AF EU IZ NL PGOV PREL SNAR TU XA XF XH NATO

    SUBJECT: DUTCH FM BOT'S VISIT TO THE U.S.

    Classified By: AMBASSADOR CLIFFORD SOBEL FOR REASONS 1.5 B AND D

    ¶1. (C) I just spoke with Ben Bot and found him
    well-prepared for his February 9 visit to Washington. He
    plans to ask how he personally can contribute to improved
    transatlantic relations. As he has said in press
    interviews, other European leaders are counting on him to
    help mend fences between the European Union and
    Washington. That remark is a telling sign of his ambition
    and self-confidence. Upon taking office he immediately set
    out to improve Dutch relations with France and Germany, to
    challenge the most senior minister for dominance within the
    Dutch cabinet, to charm parliamentarians, and to impress
    MFA officials. He is talented and extremely clever at EU
    politics after eight years as the Dutch ambassador to the
    EU. We should take up his professions of transatlantic
    leadership by asking for real support.

    -----------------------------------
    Gaining Bot's Support within the EU
    -----------------------------------

    ¶2. (C) FM Bot could help gain EU cooperation on issues of
    critical importance to the U.S. We should ask for help on
    the following issues within the EU:
    --Greater Middle East. We can tap Bot to help build support
    within the EU for this initiative. He has expressed
    interest in GME but will likely emphasize the need to
    reinvigorate the peace process as well.
    --Turkey: Bot should be asked to show leadership on this
    issue within the EU. A former ambassador to Turkey, Bot
    already has altered the MFA course, making clear that he
    favors Turkey EU accession, if it meets the Copenhagen
    criteria. However, he has his work cut out for him
    domestically because two of the three parties in government
    are highly skeptical of Turkish membership: the Liberal
    Party for financial reasons and some of his own Christian
    Democrats for cultural ones. Bot said that Greek FM
    Papandreou told him Turkey positive steps on Cyprus are
    worrying because now Greece risks looking like the
    spoiler. Bot also expressed concern about pressure he
    heard the U.S. is putting on new members regarding Turkey.
    --NATO-EU: Bot should hear specific ways in which he can
    protect transatlantic equities. The Dutch are Berlin Plus
    purists and can be counted on to help prevent EU straying,
    assuming the UK stays on message. Bot told me that German
    FM Fischer is eager to find concrete ways of restoring the
    situation. To be close to the U.S. is ssential, ischer
    said. Bot said the French professed a similar desire to
    find substantive issues for transatlantic cooperation, but
    that as conversations went longer with FM Villepin and
    Giscard d staing, their criticisms of the U.S. grew.
    --Counter-terrorism: Bot needs to know how important Dutch
    leadership was on container security and portal monitors
    and be asked to show leadership in next steps between the
    EU and U.S. He needs to hear that we need Dutch help in
    developing better processes of communication and
    cooperation.
    --Other Europe: Bot can be asked to help synchronize U.S.
    and EU policy on frozen conflicts, Georgia, and the Values
    Gap with Russia. The Dutch term as OSCE chair was
    characterized by intensive dialogue with Russia, the
    Caucasus and Central Asia.
    --Africa/HIV: Bot can encourage others in the EU to more
    closely coordinate their programs on Africa and HIV,
    following the Dutch example. The Netherlands and the U.S.
    are coordinating their HIV assistance in several countries
    and the Dutch have made Africa a priority, especially Sudan
    and the Great Lakes region. They are an important player
    on the continent and the third largest donor.
    ¶3. (C) On all these issues, Bot could play a significant
    role. However, it is not yet clear the degree to which he
    is willing to stake out a position and lead the EU versus
    waiting to see which way the EU winds blow. His
    calculations might be based more tightly on his perception
    of Dutch national interests than on principle. Last week,
    despite massive parliamentary objections, he reversed Dutch
    opposition to lifting the China arms embargo. He explained
    his decision to me in classic terms: the Dutch risked
    being locked out of China for years if they tried to block
    the EU. Furthermore, he said, there is no point in the
    Dutch taking stands that isolate it within the EU.

    --------------------------------------------- ---------------
    -------
    Pushing Bot on bilateral issues: Iraq, Afghanistan, TIP,
    Narcotics
    --------------------------------------------- ---------------
    --------

    ¶4. (C) The Dutch need to hear that they should do even more
    in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Dutch are actively
    discussing whether they can offer special forces to OEF and
    PRT leadership or whether to try to get away with less
    difficult tasks in Afghanistan. Bot cited the cabinet
    January 31 decision
    to send Apache helicopters to
    Afghanistan as nough for now. e should be thanked but
    given the message that the helos are not enough. Bot said
    PRTs remain under consideration but that he needs to go
    step by step with parliament. PRTs are a poignant test of
    the Dutch conflict between wanting to be a player that
    takes on serious responsibility and fearing taking or
    causing casualties, a fear exacerbated by their experiences
    in Srebrenica. Many parliamentarians, including from the
    opposition, have visited Afghanistan and believe ISAF needs
    to expand and yet do not want Dutch troops deployed in
    unsafe areas. They will want to know what the extraction
    plan is and will feel most confident if under the
    protection of U.S. or UK forces.
    ¶5. (C) As for Iraq, Defense Minister Kamp already is
    suggesting publicly that Dutch troops need to stay beyond
    July; Bot should hear Washington endorse this, as well as
    ask for more development and reconstruction assistance. Bot
    is more sympathetic than others in the Dutch government to
    increasing assistance to Iraq, but may try to hide behind
    budget woes. It is also useful to talk about NATO future
    role in Iraq. Bot and the Dutch perm rep have been
    cautious; we should push him.
    ¶6. (C) CT/Drugs/TIP: We should push him for further
    cooperation on counter-terrorism issues, and to more
    effectively address continuing problems regarding
    trafficking in people and narcotics.

    -------
    Comment
    -------

    ¶7. (C) Ben Bot makes all the right professions of faith in
    the transatlantic relationship, but has not yet had to make
    a decision that risks angering larger EU partners. He
    cites his deceased American wife as one strong link to the
    U.S. Transatlanticists who have known him throughout his
    career say that he is indeed a classic Dutchman who sees no
    conflict between being a committed Atlanticist and a
    committed European. His comments on Villepin also suggest
    he has no illusions about the French. However, he has been
    playing on the European stage, not the world stage for a
    decade, and in our early meetings, he occasionally made odd
    remarks to me about U.S. indifference to the EU. In giving
    him real work to do when he is in Washington, the goal is
    not only to advance U.S. objectives but also to get a
    clearer picture of how capable and courageous he is. It
    could be that he is the ideal man to run the Dutch EU
    presidency because he might be even better than de Hoop
    Scheffer at jumping EU hurdles. We should take advantage
    of his energy and ambition to be a serious player, and we
    should gauge how much water he will be able to carry during
    the Dutch presidency. PM Balkenende has given him the
    lead; thus, U.S.-EU relations in the second half of 2004
    depend largely on this man abilities and attitudes.

    SOBEL

`