GREECE DRAWING UP PLANS TO RESOLVE CYPRUS ARMS

C O N F I D E N T I A L ATHENS 002810 SIPDIS FOR EUR/SE, PM, AND EUR/RPM - HOVENIER E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/26/2015 TAGS: PREL MARR GR CY CYPRUSARMS SUBJECT: GREECE DRAWING UP PLANS TO RESOLVE CYPRUS ARMS CONCERNS Classified By: Ambassador Charles P. Ries for Reasons 1.4(b/d) ¶1. (C) Summary. Greece is preparing a proposal to resolve U.S. concerns about illegal transfers of U.S.-origin equipment to Cyprus, according to the Foreign Minister and DCHOD. Ambassador and embassy officers have made clear that the U.S. bottom line for any resolution is that it must unequivocally correct the violations of American law. End Summary. ¶2. (C) In an October 27 meeting with Ambassador, FM Molyviatis raised the Cyprus arms issue, saying that he understood the Hellenic National Defense General Staff would be briefing Embassy DATT on a proposal to bring the current situation into line with U.S. law. Ambassador thanked Molyviatis for keeping this issue on his scope, and urging the Greek military to develop steps to deal with the illegal presence of U.S.-origin equipment on Cyprus. Embassy and U.S. officials visiting Athens have repeatedly pressed Greek officials to address U.S. concerns about the continued illegal presence on Cyprus of U.S.-origin military hardware. In conversations with Ministry of Defense and Foreign Affairs officials involved in bilateral relations and procurement issues, we have been emphasizing that failure to address this issue would affect bilateral cooperation. ¶3. (C) In an October 27 meeting with DATT, DCHOD Lt. Gen. Stylianos Panagopoulos said Greece was in the final stages of coordination of a proposal that would address U.S. legal concerns. Already, Papagopoulos said, the most capable U.S. systems were completely under Greek control. The Greek plan under consideration would put the remaining equipment into a status similar to U.S. prepositioning, in controlled storage under some form of Greek guard for use only in the event of need. This proposal still needed to be approved at the political level, including by PM Karamanlis. Hopefully, Panagopoulos said, this process would be complete by Wednesday, November 3. ¶4. (C) Comment: We have consistently told our interlocutors that, while we understand the political implications of this issue for the Greek government, the bottom line for any resolution of this issue must be that it unequivocally accord with U.S. law. The ideal solution clearly would be the removal of this equipment from the island. This may not be politically feasible for the government, however. A Greek plan that conforms with U.S. law through repositioning the equipment under Greek operational control (with an effective means for U.S. verification) would be preferable to the remaining destabilizing alternatives: an increase in the number of Greek troops on the island, or the replacement of U.S. weapons with more capable, third-country systems. RIES