FINLAND: PLANS FOR SEPTEMBER 1-2 GYMNICH MEETING

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HELSINKI 000930

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/ERA AND EUR/NB

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EU PGOV PHUM PREL FI EUN
SUBJECT: FINLAND: PLANS FOR SEPTEMBER 1-2 GYMNICH MEETING

REF: STATE 153187


1. Summary:

(U) The GoF plans to concentrate on three issues at the
Gymnich: EU enlargement, the Middle-East Peace Process, and
the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). Finland will strongly support
the start of Turkish accession talks on Oct. 3, and EU
Commissioner for Enlargement Ollie Rehn (a Finn) will address
the Gymnich on the second day. The GoF is pleasantly
surprised at how smoothly the Gaza withdrawal has gone.
However, there is concern about Israeli plans for the West
Bank and Jerusalem, and Finland is hopeful the U.S. will
continue to exercise a moderating influence on Tel Aviv.
Finland hopes to use the Gymnich to raise the awareness level
about the ATT, although no specific goals had been set.
Finally, Finland believes the Croats must fully carry through
with Gotovina's arrest and transfer to The Hague. End
Summary.


2. (U) Poloffs met August 25 with MFA Director for EU
Affairs Jarno Syrjala to deliver reftel demarche. Syrjala
said that Finland has not yet received the Gymnich agenda
from the UK, but that Finland plans to concentrate on EU
enlargement, the Middle-east Peace Process, and the Arms
Trade Treaty (ATT) at the meeting.

Enlargement and Turkey
--------------

3. (U) Syrjala reiterated the GoF's strong support for the
Oct. 3 start of accession talks with Turkey. He added that
the EU Commissioner for Enlargement, Ollie Rehn- a Finn, and
a staunch advocate of the Oct. 3 start -would address the
group on September 2. He did note that some countries might
call for some form of an "EU reaction" to recent Turkish
statements on Cyprus, but said that, in Finland's view,
Turkey's comments were mere rhetoric and should not disrupt
the process. In any case, he said Finland would seek to
press for no EU reaction-- or in a worst case, a very
moderate statement. Syrjala further noted that there was
some uncertainty over the Turkish question, particularly with
the possible election of Germany's Angela Merkel looming in
September. He said that he did not believe a decision would
be made on the talks at the Gymnich, and that this would
likely be postponed until later in September, possibly during
an ad hoc ministerial meeting in New York during the UNGA
opening.

Middle-East Peace/Gaza
--------------

4. (U) Syrjala said that the GoF is pleasantly surprised by
the relatively smooth operation in Gaza and the lack of
accompanying violence. He said that Finland believes it is
now time to "build a bridge to the future" and quickly return
to the process set out in the roadmap. He said that there is
some concern in Helsinki about possible Israeli plans for the
West bank and Jerusalem post-Gaza; if Gaza came at the price
of a tightening of Israel's grip on the West Bank, the
situation could deteriorate rapidly. Syrjala said that he
believes many Palestinians are fearful that this was the
case, and that debate over the efficacy of a third Intifadah
centered on this. He also said the U.S. needs to use its
influence with Israel to moderate potentially unhelpful plans
with the West Bank and Jerusalem. In this regard, he said
that the Secretary's recent remarks had been very useful.

Arms Trade Treaty
--------------

5. (U) Syrjala said that support for a mechanism to
regulate small arms proliferation had been part of Finnish
policy for some time. UK Foreign Minister Straw has now
"personally picked this up," and the UK will promote the ATT
at the Gymnich meeting. Syrjala linked the ATT to the
Helsinki Process, and said that the Netherlands, Germany, and
Denmark had all shown interest in moving ahead with the
still-nascent project. He said that Finland will attempt to
raise awareness of the issue at the Gymnich meeting, but that
there were no specific goals set for the September meeting,
although the issue might be addressed later in New York
during the UNGA.

Western Balkans
--------------

6. (U) On Kosovo, Syrjala said that the Comprehensive
Review was a work in progress, and that it was premature to
draw any conclusions. However, he also said that Eide
recently had put a negative spin on the review process, and
that the final result may not be as positive as Serbia and
Kosovo once believed. He opined that Eide's posture had a
positive effect in the form of increased Serbian and Kosovar
compliance. Syrjala confirmed that the UNSYG had been in
touch with former Finnish President Ahtisaari about taking
the UN lead on Kosovo, but that this was at a tentative and
early stage. He declined to comment on whether Ahtisaari
would eventually do so.

7. (U) On Croatia, Finland believes Zagreb had to fully
cooperate and comply as regards the arrest and transfer to
The Hague of Gotovina. Some countries wished to be less
strict with the Croats, but the GoF believes that any softer
line would establish a negative precedent and jeopardize
Croatian cooperation in future cases. He said that the EU
Task Force might meet in New York to discuss the situation
more fully later in September.

Iraq/Iran
--------------

8. (U) Syrjala said that he did not believe either Iraq or
Iran would be substantively addressed at the Gymnich meeting
in early September.

MACK