Cablegate: Law Enforcement and Counterterrorism Information-Sharing
VZCZCXRO5260
PP RUEHIK
DE RUEHBM #0081 0480433
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 170433Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY BUCHAREST
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0323
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEFHLC/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC PRIORITY
UNCLAS BUCHAREST 000081
STATE FOR S/CT PSCHULTZ, EUR/ERA ANARDI, L/LEI KPROPP,
A/GIS/IPS/PRV CTHOMAS AND USEU/ECON LSNYDER
JUSTICE FOR TBURROWS AND MWARREN
DHS FOR MSCARDAVILLE, JKROPF, AND JBEDNARZ
TREASURY FOR JYOO AND CGREENE
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER KTFN KCRM KHLS ECPS ECON PREL KPAO KTIA CON
EUN, RO
SUBJECT: Law Enforcement and Counterterrorism Information-Sharing
and Data Privacy Issues with Romania
REF: STATE 8403
1. (SBU) On February 10, 2010 POLOFF and Department of Justice (DOJ)
Resident Legal Advisor to the SECI Regional Center for Combating
Transborder Crime (SECI Center) delivered reftel non-paper to Radu
Ragea, Deputy Undersecretary at the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) and
Viviana Onaca, Director of the MOJ Directorate for International Law
and Treaties, and engaged the MOJ officials in a discussion on
information sharing and data privacy. Though the MOJ officials were
unaware of the specific agreements, Ragea agreed that in general it
was important to have in place agreements to combat terrorism and
serious crime. Ragea believed that the U.S. and Romania had a
strong working relationship in these fields and commented that
Romania would likely support ratification of the Principals of the
High Level Contact Group (HLCG), the Terrorist Finance Tracking
Program (TFTP), and the U.S.-EU Passenger Name Records (PNR)
agreement.
2. (SBU) On February 11, POLOFF and DOJ/SECI RLA delivered reftel
non-paper to Anca Jurcan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Director
for Asymmetric Threats, and Aurelia Merzon, an officer from the
Directorate of Asymmetric Threats. MFA officers commented
explicitly that the United States could count on Romanian political
support at the EU level for ratification of the HLCG principals, the
TFTP, and the PNR agreement. Due to the fact that there was
speculation that Parliament may vote on the TFTP on February 11, MFA
officials encouraged the Embassy to reach out directly to Romanian
Members of the European Parliament (MEP). MFA officials were
particularly concerned and keen to learn about what would happen if
the TFTP failed to pass the European Parliament on February 11.
3. (SBU) On February 12, 2010, POLOFF and DOJ/SECI RLA delivered
reftel non-paper to Liliana Moltorun, George Catalin, Dennis Miron,
and Laurian Sirb. MOI officers similarly promised to put their
political support behind this issue at the Ministry of Interior and
within the Romanian law enforcement/intelligence community. Despite
the TFTP's failure on February 11, the MOI officials promised to
lobby for the passage of future agreements. The MOI hoped that the
failure of the TFTP would not impact the bilateral relationship with
the United States, which the MOI officials viewed as both important
and successful.
4. (U) Embassy will reach out to Romanian members of European
Parliament directly to address their individual concerns regarding
information sharing and data privacy issues with the United States.
Embassy also made plans with MOJ, MFA, and MOI officials to
reconvene in early March to answer any additional questions that may
arise within their respective Ministries after the non-paper has
been fully circulated. We will also seek out other individuals and
organizations that may be in a position to positively affect
outcomes of future votes.
5. (U) Embassy Bucharest points of contact for this issue are Justin
Weddle, DOJ/SECI Center RLA, WeddleJS@State.gov, (40) 72.329.2257,
and Mark Oliver, Political Officer, OliverMJ@State.gov, (40)
21.200.3435.
GITENSTEIN