EUROPEAN ACTION PLAN FOR AZERBAIJAN MOVING FORWARD

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAKU 001153 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/01/2016 TAGS: PREL PGOV ECON EAID PBTS AJ SUBJECT: EUROPEAN ACTION PLAN FOR AZERBAIJAN MOVING FORWARD REF: BAKU 01086 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Jason P. Hyland per 1.4 (b,d). ¶1. (C) Summary: German and Finnish diplomats separately confirmed that Azerbaijan has completed its European Action Plan (EAP). Previous hold-ups over EAP language regarding Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and Azerbaijan's August 2005 commercial flight to Northern Cyprus have been resolved through language in the EAP endorsing Azerbaijan's territorial integrity, and a suspension clause should Azerbaijan send any future flights to Northern Cyprus. With all three Caucasus Action Plans expected to be completed soon, the EU is hailing a "new step in EU-Caucasus relations." Finish Ambassador Terhi Hakala (EU Presidency) expects that all three Caucasus Action Plans will be adopted by the Council of Ministers in September, followed by a high-profile Troika visit to all three capitals in early October. The EU also hopes to bring the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia together during a November Cooperation Council meeting, in order to discuss regional conflicts. Hakala also said the EU will meet in September to discuss the mandate of new EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus Peter Semneby. End summary. ¶2. (C) On July 28, German Embassy First Secretary Klaus Keller, serving as the representative for European Union (EU) president of Finland, confirmed that the European Action Plan (EAP) for Azerbaijan in principle, was agreed upon on July 17 between EU Special Envoy Peter Semneby and Azerbaijan,s Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Economic Development (ref). Among other topics, the EAP contained language on Human Rights, Strengthening Civil Society, Increasing Diplomatic Efforts, Increasing Support for the OSCE MINSK Group, Democracy, Reform of the Electoral Codes, International Conventions, Energy, Political Dialogue and Reform, Migration Issues, Fighting Organized Crime, Police Cooperation, Decreasing Poverty, Improving the Pension System, WTO, and Customs. Keller said that Azerbaijan,s action plan, along with soon-to-be finalized action plans for Armenia and Georgia, will be submitted for ratification by the 25 EU member states during the next Council of Ministers. ¶3. (C) Keller reported that two previous points of contention, language regarding Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and Greek concern over Azerbaijan,s relations with Northern Cyprus, had been resolved. Azerbaijan had strenuously objected to previous versions of the EAP that did not refer explicitly to Azerbaijan's territorial integrity. Finnish Ambassador Terhi Hakala reported that the EU solved the problem by taking language from Azerbaijan's 1997 Partnership Cooperation Agreement (PCA),that referred explicitly to Azerbaijan's territorial integrity. While the EU had intended the EAPs to be symmetrical regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Hakala said the EU ended up with PCA language in the EAPs for both Azerbaijan and Armenia. Armenia's draft EAP, she said, now includes language stating that conflicts should be resolved on the basis of international law, including self determination. Separately, the Cyprus flight issue was resolved by a suspension clause, specific langague that makes it explicitly clear that if there were anymore Azerbaijani flights to Northern Cyprus, the implementation of the EAP would be suspended. Both Keller and Hakala said that Cyprus and Greece are comfortable with the clause. ¶4. (C) Finnish Ambassador Tehri Hakala separately told Charge that the Finnish Presidency would like to push for early approval of all three action plans, possibly in September. Hailing the action plans as a "new step in EU-Caucasus relations," Hakala said the Finnish Presidency would like to signal EU commitment to the region through a high-profile EU Troika visit to all three capitals in early October. Hakkala said the Finnish Foreign Minister and EC External Relations Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner have already agreed to the trip; she was not certain whether the German Foreign Minister would be available. (Hakkala also noted that the last EU Troika visit to the region had occured in February 2001.) The EU also hopes to bring all three Caucasus Foreign Ministers together -- for the first time since 2005 -- in a Cooperation Council Meeting in Brussels in November. At that meeting, the EU hopes to encourage a regional dialogue, particularly on the region's conflicts. ¶5. (C) Hakala also noted that the EU planned to hold further discussions in September regarding the mandate for EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus Peter Semneby. She commented that while EU expectations for a negotiated solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict had been high, perhaps they had been misplaced. Hakala said that "deep in BAKU 00001153 002 OF 002 the corridors of the EU," some planning was being done for possible N-K peace-keeping operations. Hakala said she personally did not believe a peace deal was immiment, as "neither side wants peace." HYLAND