Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05ATHENS3159
2005-12-14 07:20:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Athens
Cable title:  

GOG COMMITS TO PROVIDE $600,000 TO

Tags:  EAID PREL AL GR BALKANS 
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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 03 ATHENS 003159 

SIPDIS

USAID FOR E&E (MEFFORD, STUDZINSKI)
DEPT FOR EUR, EUR/SE, EUR/SCE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/05/2015
TAGS: EAID PREL AL GR BALKANS
SUBJECT: GOG COMMITS TO PROVIDE $600,000 TO
ANTI-TRAFFICKING PROGRAM IN ALBANIA, EXPRESSES WISH FOR
CLOSER ASSISTANCE COOPERATION

Classified By: AMBASSADOR CHARLES RIES FOR REASONS 1.4 (B AND D)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ATHENS 003159

SIPDIS

USAID FOR E&E (MEFFORD, STUDZINSKI)
DEPT FOR EUR, EUR/SE, EUR/SCE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/05/2015
TAGS: EAID PREL AL GR BALKANS
SUBJECT: GOG COMMITS TO PROVIDE $600,000 TO
ANTI-TRAFFICKING PROGRAM IN ALBANIA, EXPRESSES WISH FOR
CLOSER ASSISTANCE COOPERATION

Classified By: AMBASSADOR CHARLES RIES FOR REASONS 1.4 (B AND D)


1. (SBU) Summary. During his December 5 visit to Athens,
USAID Deputy Assistant Administrator for Europe and Eurasia
Thomas Mefford obtained the GoG's commitment to provide
$600,000 in funding for a multilateral anti-trafficking
program in Albania. This was the culmination of almost two
years of discussions between the GoG and USAID, led primarily
by Deputy FonMin Evripidis Stylianides on the Greek side.
Mefford held additional meetings with Hellenic Aid (HA) and
with local NGOs focused on TIP. He was joined on his visit
by USAID Country Director for Albania Harry Birnholz and
USAID Mission Albania's Anti-Trafficking Specialist, Arian
Giantris. End Summary.

--------------
DEPUTY FONMIN STYLIANIDES COMMITS $600,000
TO ANTI-TRAFFICKING IN ALBANIA
--------------


2. (C) In his meeting with Mefford, Stylianides stressed
the importance he ascribed to increased assistance
cooperation with the USG: "We want to work with you, now and
in the future." He noted his first priority was fighting
trafficking in persons, and that the GoG was looking forward
to progress on the child repatriation agreement with the
Albanian Government (Note: currently in final review status
with the GoA). He further noted the GoG had signed on
Friday, November 29 a MOU with 12 Greek NGOs and
International Organization for Migration (IOM) outlining how
the GoG would cooperate with them on fighting TIP (septel).



3. (SBU) Stylianides immediately accepted Mefford's proposal
for GoG participation in the next phase of the Transnational
Action against Child Trafficking (TACT) project in Albania.
Greece's participation in the project, which is currently
funded by USAID ($1.5 million),Sida of Sweden, UNICEF, the
Oak Foundation, the National Albanian American Council (NAAC)
and the Terre des Hommes Foundation of Switzerland, will
total $600,000 over a period of three years. Stylianides
promised to send a letter to Ambassador Ries confirming the
GoG's funding commitment. Birnholz, who noted that the Greek

NGO ARSIS (Association for the Social Support of Youth,
Hellas) already participated in the current phase of TACT,
said he would work out the details of official GoG
participation after returning to Tirana. At a dinner hosted
by the Ambassador Ries later the same day, Stylianides
stressed his hope that Greek participation in TACT could
serve as a template for even broader USAID-HA regional TIP
cooperation. Stylianides also asked Mefford to consider
providing a training opportunity for a HA staffer at the
USAID mission in Albania. Mefford and Birnholz warmly
accepted the idea and said they would follow up.

--------------
GoG Ideas for Other Cooperation with USAID
--------------


4. (SBU) Stylianides and his staff outlined other areas of
potential cooperation with USAID, including in the Balkans,
Georgia, Egypt, and Africa:


A. Egypt. Stylianides' political advisor George Pandremenos
outlined three projects in Egypt:
-- A $2.5 million project to renovate "Residence Antoniades"
located near the Alexandria library which could house
associated exhibitions and serve as administrative or
dormitory space for scholars visiting the library.
Pandremenos noted that the library has already committed
$500,000 to the project, and the World Bank is willing to
provide up to $1 million provided it can find matching funds.

-- The renovation of the St. George Monastery in Cairo.
USAID has already completed a feasibility study of the
renovation, and HA is willing to co-finance project
implementation;
-- Construction of a school in the old Greek quarter of
Cairo. Stylianides emphasized this project could only take
place once the residences of the quarter had been renovated,
a project that has only just gotten started.


B. Georgia. Stylianides' Chef de Cabinet, Dimitris Platis,
said the GoG hoped to cooperate with USAID on a "rule-of-law"
project in Georgia focused on combating attacks against Greek
property in Tbilisi. He noted that many Greeks had fled the
capital as a result of violence there; local "Mafiosi" had
murdered 17 Greek-origin Georgians and occupied many homes of
Greek-origin Georgians. It was the GoG's hope that, with
improved training, Georgian law enforcement could better
combat these crimes. Mefford noted that the GoG's objectives
for Georgia appeared to mesh well with those of USAID, and he
agreed with Stylianides to promote a meeting between the U.S.
and Greek ambassadors to Georgia to discuss the ideas.


C. Darfur. Hellenic Aid's Emergency Humanitarian Director
Nike Koutrakos said that HA's annual call for proposals was
about to get off the ground and would have Darfur as a
priority area. The goal was to focus on "soft protection"
such as improved lighting in refugee camps, which should
hopefully reduce attacks on women.


5. (SBU) Mefford welcomed the Greek ideas, and asked that
the GoG forward complete proposals, which USAID would study
closely.

-------------- --------------
Greek Assistance to the Balkans, Present and Future
-------------- --------------


6. (SBU) Stylianides outlined a number of other ideas for
Greek assistance that did not involve USAID. He noted the
GoG had been "very active" in Albania, providing 180 million
Euro in assistance to date. Under PM Karamanlis, the GoG had
developed an action plan for Albania that foresaw cooperation
with Greek Orthodox Archbishop Anastasios among others, aimed
at building schools in both the Greek-minority areas and in
the north of the country. Stylianides was hoping to utilize
some of the 550 million Euro Greece had committed to the
Balkan Reconstruction Fund (BRF) for the creation of a modern
road connecting the towns of Southwest Albania with Greece,
which he claimed previous PM Nano had approved in the face of
some Albanian governmental opposition. Unfortunately, he
went on to say, the original feasibility study, which had
been conducted by an Italian firm, would have to be redone.


7. (SBU) Stylianides said the GoG was also working on a
feasibility study for the construction of the four-lane
"Corridor 10" road from Greece to north Serbia. Current
plans foresaw the GoG providing 50 percent of the total $200
million in funding, the rest of which would be provided by
the European Investment Bank (EIB). Stylianides noted the
potential to connect the road to KOSOVO. He said he had been
in close touch with Belgrade on the project and hoped to
receive a response by the end of the year.


8. (C) Stylianides said Greek plans in the Balkans also
extended to energy. He pointed to the recent signing of the
Southeastern Europe Energy Cooperative (SEEC) agreement,
which creates a region-wide electricity regulatory authority
to be headquartered in Athens. He noted that a major crude
oil pipeline already connects Greece with KOSOVO, which
Hellenic Petroleum hopes to extend to the Pristina airport.
The pipeline would send crude oil to Skopje, and then refined
petroleum products onwards to Pristina. Stylianides
indicated the GoG is already building homes, in cooperation
with UNDP, for Serb returnees to KOSOVO. The Ambassador put
these ideas into the context of the international community's
hopes for an equitable and peaceful solution to the status of
KOSOVO and urged the Deputy Minister to consider how
well-timed Greek assistance could be used with the Serbs to
sweeten the final deal.


9. (SBU) Stylianides said he was very conscious of how GoG
diplomatic actions in the Balkans needed to take into account
improving regional investment and trade. The road project in
Albania, for instance, had the potential to unlock a
significant amount of Albanian-Greek trade. Stylianides was
in close touch with the American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce
on a 2006 conference in Thessaloniki on business in the
Balkans.


10. (SBU) The Ambassador thanked Stylianides for his
proactive approach to cooperation with USAID and underlined
the key role such cooperation will play in the overall
U.S.-Greek strategic partnership. He noted the USG welcomes
a strong Greek role in the Balkan region and said that,
although U.S. and GoG capacities for action differ, our
objectives track well. Furthermore, Greece benefits from the
partnership in a number of ways -- in the case of USAID's
work in Albania, Greece is already profiting from increased
Albanian capacity to fight TIP.

--------------
Other Mefford Meetings: Hellenic Aid and NGOs
--------------

11. (SBU) In addition to his meeting with Stylianides,
Mefford also met with Deputy Director General for Hellenic
Aid, Helen Zourbala. She and her staff provided the USAID
team with information about the modalities involved in
Greece's assistance programs. There is a yearly call for
proposals, which is just about to start and should be
completed by the end of March. Greek assistance can only be
provided to Greek NGOs or to multilateral organizations.
Zourbala noted the GoG could fund TACT through ARSIS, for
instance.


12. (SBU) Mefford also conducted a round-table discussion
with four Greek NGOs involved in combating TIP: the Human
Rights Defense Center (KEPAD),ARSIS, STOPNow!, and the
European Network of Women (ENOW). The NGO consensus was to
welcome the recently-signed MOU with the GoG, while taking a
wait-and-see attitude regarding results. The NGO leaders
stressed the lack of trust between the GoG and the NGO
community, which they said would take time to overcome. They
noted the importance of the MOU's implementation of an EU
requirement for a month-long "reflection period" for victims
of trafficking, which allowed them time to bring their
situation to the attention of Greek law enforcement entities
without victims in illegal status being subject to immediate
arrest and possible deportation. The Greeks also bemoaned
the spotty nature of their public awareness campaigns, citing
lack of funding. Dina Vardaramatou, President of STOPNow!
said that the Saatchi and Saatchi advertising agency had
produced two free informational TV spots on TIP (prior to the
Olympics) which had been very well-received by the Greek
public. Her organization hesitated asking Saatchi and
Saatchi to give more of their time, and does not have enough
money to fund a spot on their own. Other participants in the
discussion were Tenia Kyriaki, Legal Advisor to KEPAD, Niki
Roubani, President of ENOW, and Katerina Poutou, Athens
Representative of ARSIS.

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


13. (SBU) Stylianides literally put his money where his
mouth is through his significant funding commitment to the
TACT project. Post will follow up with the GoG and with our
colleagues at Embassy Albania to make certain the GoG
commitment gets quickly translated into action.
RIES