NATO SG PRAISES GREEK CONTRIBUTIONS, EXPRESSES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ATHENS 001822

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/13/2016
TAGS: PREL NATO GR
SUBJECT: NATO SG PRAISES GREEK CONTRIBUTIONS, EXPRESSES
"WORRY" OVER AEGEAN ISSUES

REF: ATHENS 1405

Classified By: Ambassador Charles P. Ries for reasons 1.4 b & d.


1. (C) SUMMARY: NATO Secretary General de Hoop Scheffer
made a productive and widely-covered stop in Athens July 7 to
confer with the GoG in the run-up to the Riga summit. de
Hoop Scheffer praised Greece's contributions to various NATO
operations, including Kosovo and Afghanistan. Though the MFA
reported de Hoop Scheffer did not specifically ask for
increases in Greek forces, the SG did make clear that NATO
welcomes additional contributions from "any ally." On the
Greek side, the FM committed to stay in Kosovo "as long as
necessary," and expressed interest in bringing Serbia into
the Partnership for Peace. The FM supported the accession
process of the Adriatic Charter members, "provided the
political and military criteria are fulfilled," and
emphasized building confidence with Mediterranean partners
outside of NATO. Regarding the Greek and Turkish F-16
collision, the SG remarked, "there are worries with me."
Greek media took the opportunity of the visit to positively
cover Greek contributions in Afghanistan. END SUMMARY.


2. (U) In a July 7 visit to Athens, NATO Secretary General
(SG) Jan de Hoop Scheffer met with PM Karamanlis, FM
Bakoyannis, and Defense Minister Meimarakis to discuss the
"very intensive political agenda" in the run-up to the
November Riga summit. Bakoyannis and De Hoop Scheffer gave a
joint press conference after their meeting. The SG also met
with opposition PASOK leader Papandreou. The SG praised
Greek participation in Afghanistan, Kosovo, NATO maritime
operation Active Endeavor, and lauded Greek training and
equipping of Iraqi armed forces. His visit received wide
press coverage and spurred a positive media blitz on Greece's
contributions in Afghanistan in the subsequent days.

KOSOVO AND SERBIA
--------------

3. (C) Ambassador Panayiotis Zographos, head of the MFA's D2
NATO Directorate, who was present at the meetings, told
Ambassador that the discussions centered on Kosovo and
Serbia, with Greece committing to de Hoop Scheffer to stay
with KFOR for "as long as necessary." The SG was primarily
concerned about developments in Belgrade and what to do about
Partnership for Peace (PfP). On the Greek side, the PM and
FM were in favor of affecting Serbian military reform from
the "inside out rather than outside in," meaning they favor
bringing Serbia into PfP and then working to change the
military officer corps.

AFGHANISTAN
--------------

4. (C) On Afghanistan, Zographos reported that de Hoop
Scheffer did most of the information sharing. He told the
GoG that the mission was much tougher than had originally
been anticipated, but necessary nonetheless. Zographos said
de Hoop Scheffer discussed "problems with Karzai" with the PM
and FM, but gave no further details. Contrary to Greek media
reports (see pp 8),Zographos confirmed de Hoop Scheffer's
press statement that the SG did not make specific requests
for additional forces from Greece (and Greece did not offer
them),but the SG did describe the shortages NATO is facing
and made the appeal that "any ally who would be able to fill
those shortages should do that," both in meetings and in his
press statement.

NATO ACCESSION
--------------

5. (C) On the accession prospects to NATO of Croatia,
Macedonia, and Albania, the FM made clear to the SG and in
her public statement that Greece will support accession in
2008 provided the countries fulfill the political and
military criteria and that the Alliance is prepared for
enlargement. On Macedonia, Zographos reported that there is
"new optimism" that the new government in Skopje will be
prepared now to deal with the name issue, although Greece
will of course support their accession under "FYROM" as it is
committed to do under the Interim Agreement, or another name
by mutual agreement.

MEDITERRANEAN DIALOGUE
--------------

6. (C) In the press conference, the FM emphasized that
building confidence between the Mediterranean countries that
are not NATO members - mainly through deepening and expanding
issues address in the Mediterranean Dialogue - is of
particular importance now. She also stressed the importance
of a productive, substantial cooperation between NATO and the
EU, while still respecting each organization's institutional
autonomy.


ATHENS 00001822 002 OF 002


GREECE-TURKEY TENSION
--------------

7. (C) Zographos did not tell us whether Greece-Turkey
issues came up during the meetings. During the press
conference, the SG, responding to a question on Aegean
tensions, called the May 23 Greek and Turkish collision of
F-16s (reftel) a "very regrettable incident." He continued
that he was "satisfied" with the confidence-building measures
that have been discussed by the two sides. Asked
specifically about concern within the coalition, the SG
replied, "There are worries with me when such incidents
occur. That's crystal clear."

THE MEDIA SPIN
--------------

8. (U) Greek press carried secondary reports following the
visit, stressing that de Hoop Scheffer came to Greece to
request increased monetary contributions to NATO, more
equipment, primarily aircraft for airlift operations, and
more troops for ISAF. Reports quoted that the Defense
Minister "politely refused to increase contributions." A
July 9 Kathimerini article characterized the SG's message to
Greece and Turkey on the Aegean as: "Work things out,"
suggesting that de Hoop Scheffer feels these tensions detract
from the major issues of the alliance. A July 9
Eleftherotypia piece suggested that Greece may offer a number
of Apache helicopters to ISAF, but criticized the purported
American strategy to have forces at the disposal of the NATO
military commander at any time, thereby circumventing
possible political objections from Athens.
RIES