|   DATE   |    2007-06-18 11:39:001.   (SBU) Prime Minister Jens STOLTENBERG,s June 7-10  visit to Russia produced progress on Norwegian priorities in the Barents region.  Despite some controversial statements on missile defense and some public  criticism of Russia,s human rights record, STOLTENBERG,s visit was primarily characterized by some  successes for Norway,s High North priorities, including resolution of a small  part of Norway,s disputed sea-border with Russia and new Russian commitments on  safety and economic development of the Barents Sea region. This result will  likely encourage the government to continue Norway,s enthusiastically positive  approach to Russia, downplaying tensions over security matters within NATO and other negative aspects.4. (C) Perhaps the most  controversy of the visit was generated by a quote on missile defense STOLTENBERG made while in Murmansk. STOLTENBERG called on the U.S. and Russia to discuss missile  defense, and said it was important for both sides to reduce harsh rhetoric and  to avoid a new arms race. He continued to say that Norway has all along been  skeptical of missile defense plans and would not allow missile defenses in  Norway. Russian suspicions of the Vardoe radar site in northern Norway and false  complaints about its supposed use in U.S. missile defense plans were a staple of  past meetings of Norwegian and Russian leaders and continue to be a sub theme of  Russian complaints about U.S. missile defense plans at NATO. However, during this visit the radar was not directly  raised by either side.   And Gets Criticized ------------------
  ¶5. (U) Norwegian media  reaction to STOLTENBERG,s statement was critical, with  editorials in Norway,s largest paper castigating STOLTENBERG for expressing his criticism of U.S. missile  defense plans while in Russia, while not even mentioning Putin,s strong threats  against NATO. The paper stated that the PM,s criticism  of the U.S. on such a sensitive issue, without any balancing criticism of  Russia, creates an impression of Norwegian servility towards Russia and shows  that Norway is intimidated. The paper called for the PM to speak out against  Putin,s harsh rhetoric, and make clear that Russia does not have veto power over  missile defense plans in NATO countries. The editorial  also stated that U.S. plans are no threat to Russia and that if the PM needs to  criticize missile defense because of internal governmental reasons he should do  so in another place than Russia. The Prime Minister,s office and the MFA have  claimed that the PM,s comments reported in international media were taken out of  context and that he intended to promote dialogue and make clear that Norway  would not be used for any missile defense systems. See ref a for more the GON  approach to Missile Defense.
  Likely Results: Confirmation of Norways  Current Russia Policy ---------------------------------------------  -------------
  ¶6. (C) In a summary to the press before he returned to  Norway, STOLTENBERG highlighted his satisfaction with  reaching an agreement over the border in Varangerfjord. He also called for more  frequent contacts with Russian leadership and invited President Putin to Norway.  The border agreement, Statoil,s meeting with Putin and the positive developments  on nuclear safety in the Barents were all key successes for Norway,s High North  priorities. These successful results will likely encourage the GON,s natural  inclination to avoid criticism of Russia and to stress their interest in  co-operative projects in the North. This does not mean that the GON is unaware  or unconcerned about the developments in Russia. We hear frequent private  expressions of concern from lower-level members of the Defense Department and  the Ministry of Foreign Affairs over Russia,s new aggressiveness and Russia is a  topic which will continue to generate media and public interest. However, the  GON appears determined to continue its course of downplaying disagreements in  order to focus on its goal of close cooperation with Russia in the Barents  region and make progress in its high priority High North policy. Elite opinion,  including in the MFA, also includes sympathy for the worn argument that Russian  misdeeds are often reactions to mistakes by the west, and in particular the U.S.  Whitney.                        |   ID   |  09OSLO399  |    |   SUBJECT   |     |    |   DATE   |  2009-06-18 07:44:00  |                        RUSSIA: Public Positivism and a  Focus on the Bilateral ---------------------------------------------  ---------
  ¶3. (C) The GONs official RUSSIA  policy has been characterized by a consistent stress on the positive and a  reluctance to publicly criticize RUSSIA actions (the  Georgia war was one exception but the GON shows little public solidarity when  RUSSIA pressures the Baltics, Poland or other allies).  Norway has chosen to prioritize the bilateral aspects of its relations to RUSSIA, working to achieve greater cooperation in the  Barents, defending its interests in a quiet manner and stressing the benefits of  greater RUSSIAn integration into the European economic  and political regimes. The GON works to maintain steady and positive contacts  with RUSSIA as evidenced by the recent meetings of PM  STOLTENBERG with President Medvedev and PM Putin, FM  Stoeres meetings with FM Lavrov and other meetings between Ministers of Energy  and Industry. (Reftel A and D)
  ¶4. (C) As a member of the wider European  community, Norway has been much more passive, at times criticizing RUSSIAn actions, but primarily arguing for dialogue and  inclusion. Norways focus on the bilateral relationship has resulted in  cooperative and well-functioning relationships in environmental cleanup, nuclear  safety, fisheries management and people-to-people exchanges. It also has led to  a greater potential for cooperation in the development of energy resources in  the Barents (StatoilHydros share of the Shtockman Development Company is the  prime example).
  ¶5. (C) These achievements impact the wider relationship  as the GON does not want to throw away the hard earned progress in bilateral  relations (or damage the potential future cooperation on energy development or  agreement on a maritime border) for events elsewhere. GON priorities were  illustrated by a recent meeting between the Deputy Foreign Minister and a  high-ranking USG official. When speaking about RUSSIA  the Deputy Minister choose to focus on a recently concluded fishing agreement  with RUSSIA, ignoring any other wider concerns.Comment  -------
  ¶13. (C) Norway has succeeded in creating a low tension  relationship with RUSSIA with real and functioning  cooperative agreements in the Barents. This is positive but it is unclear that  this is a result of GON policy or simply of RUSSIAn  disinterest. Some are wondering if this is worth the price of GON reluctance to  show solidarity when RUSSIA pushes allies or other  states. Despite GON claims that other nations should follow their lead, it  appears to us that Norways relationship is unique and a model RUSSIA might favor, but not other allies.
  ¶14. (C)  Norways underlying concerns over RUSSIA will however  continue to be an important piece of the continued close U.S.-Norway bilateral  relationship. Close intelligence and military connections have continued despite  the end of the cold war, and Norway had maintained its RUSSIAn expertise when others scaled back. Norways desire  for increased attention to the High North is a healthy impulse and one which  should compliment increasing U.S. interest in the Arctic. Norway has expressed a  desire to re-start the dormant U.S.-Norway High North talks and discussing ways  to combine our RUSSIAn expertise may be a topic of  mutual interest for this initiative. Norway strongly supports U.S. determination  to increase engagement with RUSSIA and "reset" the  relationship. We should ask Norway to also support the firm U.S. and NATO  positions on RUSSIA when necessary, rather than  relying on others to do so       3 - Cette politique  indépendante , le gouvernement Norvégien l' a aussi developpé au Proche-Orient  en s'opposant à la politique belliciste de l'Entité Sioniste aka " Israël "  .  De la même manière que les  brutales attaques contre le Liban et Gazza ont  contribué à la détestation du Sionisme en Norvège , les massacres de Sabra et  Chatila ont provoqué la detestation de ce Sionisme dans la Suède d' Olof Palme .                              En 2006, une crise diplomatique a éclaté entre  les deux pays suite aux propos tenus par l'ambassadrice  d'Israël.
  En juin 2010, la  Norvège a exigé une enquête internationale sur l'abordage par Israël de la  flotille turque.
 
  En  aout 2010, la Norvège se désengage de deux investissements israéliens jugeant  ces sociétés moralement condamnables.
 
  En octobre 2010, la Norvège a interdit des  exercices de submersibles  israéliens, construits en Allemagne, dans ses eaux  territoriales . Jonas Gahr Stoere, le ministre des Affaires étrangères  norvégien, a déclaré, pour l'occasion, que la Norvège n'exportait pas de  «matériel ou de services dans le domaine de la défense vers des pays où la  guerre menace».       En 2007 la Norvége a reconnu le  Hamas
  Le Gouvernement  Norvégien vient de se pronnoncer en faveur de l'admission de la Palestine à l'  ONU .      |   ID   |  09OSLO739  |    |   SUBJECT   |  SCENESETTER FOR YOUR VISIT TO OSLO  |    |   DATE   |  2009-11-30 15:25:00  |    Mid-East Peace  Process ----------------------
  ¶9. (S) During the Oslo Peace Process  of the 1990s, NORWAY hosted Israeli-Palestinian  peace talks, and the Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 to  Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres, and Yitzhak Rabin. Tragically, Rabin was  assassinated a year later by a figure opposed to his peace overtures.  Subsequently, NORWAY has played a diminishing,  often independent, and sometimes unhelpful role in the Middle East. NORWAY strongly believes it should engage everyone,  including HAMAS, which it has not designated as a  terrorist organization, unlike the United States and the European Union. In a  break with the international Quartet, NORWAY  recognized the HAMAS-Fatah Unity Government in  2007. NORWAY more helpfully serves as a highly  effective Co-Chair of the Ad-Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC), the  main international donor group for coordinating economic assistance to the  Palestinian Authority, and works to keep AHLC activities in concert with the  political track of negotiations led by the U.S. NORWAY's relations with Israel have been strained in  recent years due to its contact with HAMAS,  Norwegian disapproval of Israeli actions during the fighting in Gaza last  winter, and periodic, privately-led boycott campaigns against Israeli  businesses and universities. The Norwegian Government fully supports  your intensive efforts to restart direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.  Norwegian and Israeli officials told us this fall that NORWAY has now initiated steps to improve the bilateral  relationship with Israel, including through scientific or other exchanges and  other activities. In early November, the government publicly condemned a  private effort at a university in Trondheim to boycott Israeli  academics, defining the effort as contrary to academic freedom.  The university's board ultimately unanimously rejected the boycott  proposal a few days later on November 12.
        4- Il est reproché  à Jens Stoltenberg d'avoir fait une alliance avec un parti " Anti-OTAN " , la  Gauche  Socialiste ( SV )  .            |   ID   |  07OSLO1161  |    |   SUBJECT    |  NORWAY'S DEFENSE  POLICY AT A CROSSROADS: CLARITY  |    |   DATE   |  2007-12-18 13:17:00   |        What? Soldiers Actually Shoot? -------------------------------- ¶2. (SBU) Background to this debate includes a  government which rhetorically affirms  NATO as NORWAY,s primary security provider but which is at heart skeptical of the use  of military power in all but the most  benign ways, tempted by the idea of  closer Nordic defense cooperation and includes an ANTI-NATO party, the Socialist  Left (SV) as a member of the governing  coalition. The vigorous internal governmental debate over NORWAY,s  contributions to ISAF, as well as repeated public negative comments concerning NATO and  U.S. missile defense plans are  illustrative of the general impulse of  this government (see reftels for details).         Conclusion: Looking for Security and  Ideological Comfort --------------------------------------- ¶15. (C) Comment: FM Stoere realizes the need for  continued close security ties to NATO and  the U.S. but at the same time is  uncomfortable with the direction of U.S. and NATO security policy. His evolving public comments indicate the GON is  not looking to replace NATO but seeks  additional partners in security which are  a better ideological match with the GON and can balance the U.S. heavy NATO alliance. One example  is NORWAY's  increased defense ties with the EU and its participation in the EU Nordic Battle Group, despite  being a non-EU member. Cooperation with  Sweden and Finland offers both the  possibility of savings on equipment purchases and the chance to work with likeminded nations who prioritize  UN involvement, favor peacekeeping over  peacemaking and who are concerned about  Russia. Stoere's coalition partners from SV, of course, are unabashedly ANTI-NATO and anti-defense.
  Implications for U.S. Policy ------------------------ ¶16. (C) The decisions made by the GON on the  Defense Studies, recommendations on  funding, the purchase of new aircraft and  on its relations to its neighbors will have a significant impact on NORWAY,s  ability and desire to meet NATO  commitments and spark a reassessment of NORWAY's  defense policies. We expect NORWAY's move toward Nordic cooperation and preference for UN mandated peacekeeping missions  to remain, even if the current government  does not win the 2009 election. This tend  combined with a general antipathy to missile defense, efforts to ban cluster munitions, focus  on disarmament instead of  non-proliferation and reluctance to use  its vast energy wealth to fund defense spending open questions regarding NORWAY's  commitment to be a serious and dependable  ally. Thus, despite continued close and productive military to military relations, the GON,s  actions and long-term trends bear  watching in NATO and bilaterally. In this  atmosphere it is more vital than ever that we speak and act clearly and at senior levels when NORWAY is an outlier  on key issues. Eager to act more independently but loathe to be seen as weakening trans-Atlantic ties, the  GON will listen and respond when  confronted. Assuming generally common  interests and policies, however, would be a mistake. This is not the NORWAY many  remember, and failing to make                 4-  rechercherchait- on un successeur à Jens Stoltenberg au sein du Parti  Travailliste ? Un Carl Bildt Norvégien ?          |   ID   |  08OSLO406  |    |   SUBJECT    |  NORWAY'S DEPUTY MINISTER OF DEFENSE, ESPEN  BARTH EIDE, POWER IN NORWAY'S MOD AND RISING STAR IN THE LABOR PARTY   |    |   DATE   |  2008-07-21 09:09:00   |         1. (C) Summary. Ministry of Defense State  Secretary, Espen Barth Eide is one of the more powerful politicians in the  current GON despite his deputy minister portfolio. His ties to the Ministry of  Foreign Affairs, think tanks, NGOs and the UN as well as his influential current  position likely will result in either a ministerial position in a future Labor  government or a high ranking UN or EU position. Barth Eide is particularly  interested in UN peacekeeping operations and may be interested in a future UN  position. End Summary.
  --Power Behind  the Throne--
  ¶2. (C) Ideologically on  the more conservative side of the Labor Party, Barth Eide is one of the most  experienced and influential government figures. After the 2005 national election  many observers thought that PM Jens STOLTENBERG meant  to appoint Barth Eide as a State Secretary in the MFA, but after being forced to  appoint a weak defense minister, STOLTENBERG moved  Barth Eide to the MOD. Barth Eide is regarded as the force which steers the  defense ministry and is an eloquent and knowledgeable speaker and writer on  defense and security matters. He is often quoted in the press, more so than the  Defense Minister, Anne-Grete Strom-Erichsen. Strom-Erichsen was appointed  minister without any background in defense matters and has relied on Barth Eide  to be her subject matter and policy expert while she deals with political  issues. Barth Eide has wide leeway in determining what areas to focus on and is  self-confident in determining priorities.
  --Past Positions-- ¶3. (C) His current position as deputy minister (or state  secretary in the Norwegian term) is the second time he has held that rank. The  first was in the MFA from 2000-2001 under then Foreign Minister Thorbjorn  Jagland (now President of Parliament). Interspersed between government posts,  Barth Eide led the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI)  2002-2005, focusing on UN issues and peacekeeping, particularly the Balkans. He  also has been a long time supporter of Norwegian membership in the EU, acting as  the general secretary for the European Movement from 1991-1993, prior to the  failed 1994 referendum on EU membership in Norway. Barth Eide has also been  involved in several UN projects, serving as a senior consultant on the UN reform  process and on the UN Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change from 2003-2004.  Barth Eide has been co-editor of the London Based journal International  Peacekeeping and was nominated a "Global Leader of Tomorrow" by the World  Economic Forum in 2003.
  --Interactions with the USG-- ¶4. (C) In his relations with the Embassy, Barth Eide has  been difficult to characterize. Barth Eide is a skilled and subtle interagency  player who is largely pro-U.S. but should not be trusted to reliably uphold U.S.  interests. On several important issues Barth Eide has been helpful, such as  missile defense (where he helped prevent a Norwegian veto of NATO plans), the sale of land to the USG for construction of  a new embassy building (intervening on touchy real estate issues affecting the  U.S. purchase of land for the new embassy) and pushing for Norwegian deployments  to Afghanistan. On other issues, such as the decision process on the purchase of  new fighter aircraft and the Norwegian approach on cluster munitions, he has  hedged his bets. Barth Eide has avoided the gratuitous negative comments about  the Bush Administration that other GON figures have made. Barth Eide also takes  pains to stress NATO as the cornerstone of GON  security policy and the importance of the Norwegian-U.S. relationship. He has  given the Embassy good advice on how to approach the GON on several occasions.  However, some very senior U.S. officials have felt that he has been hard to pin  down on several issues of concern and characterized Barth Eide as "weasily".  Senior Norwegian officials, with strong pro-U.S. instincts, have also told the  Embassy in private that Barth Eide is not to be relied upon to promote U.S.  priorities. One key test of Barth Eide's inclinations will be the MOD  recommendation on which fighter plane to purchase, the Joint Strike Fighter or  the Saab Gripen.  http://zebrastationpolaire.over-blog.com/article-oslo-attentat-quand-l-otan-visait-jens-stoltenberg-et-le-parti-travailliste-80014338.html  | 
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