Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06BERLIN1494
2006-06-02 13:38:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Berlin
Cable title:  

GERMAN VIEWS ON THE "ROAD TO RIGA"

Tags:  NATO MARR MOPS PREL GM 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0031
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHRL #1494/01 1531338
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 021338Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY BERLIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3405
INFO RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHNO/USDELMC BRUSSELS BE PRIORITY
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0350
RHMFISS/HQ USAFE RAMSTEIN AB GE PRIORITY
RHMFISS/CDRUSAREUR HEIDELBERG GE PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L BERLIN 001494 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/RPM, EUR/AGS, EUR/ERA, PM AND T

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/22/2016
TAGS: NATO MARR MOPS PREL GM
SUBJECT: GERMAN VIEWS ON THE "ROAD TO RIGA"

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires a.i. John K. Bauman;
reasons 1.4(b) and (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L BERLIN 001494

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/RPM, EUR/AGS, EUR/ERA, PM AND T

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/22/2016
TAGS: NATO MARR MOPS PREL GM
SUBJECT: GERMAN VIEWS ON THE "ROAD TO RIGA"

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires a.i. John K. Bauman;
reasons 1.4(b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: In meetings May 18-19 with USNATO Ambassador
Victoria Nuland, German officials were cautious across the
board. Nuland focused on the strategic rationale behind our
Riga summit initiatives but made only modest headway in
broadening German thinking. Nuland found Chancellery and MOD
officials generally far more open-minded then the MFA.
Specifically, the Germans questioned whether the time was
ripe for NATO to grant Georgia Intensified Dialogue (ID)
status. They expressed general support for the idea of a
NATO "Global Partnership" initiative, but advocated keeping
the approach practical and informal. On possible enhanced
NATO support for the African Union (AU) mission in Darfur,
the Germans confirmed political support but remained cautious
about the prospects for German contributions. They agreed
with the need to promote closer NATO-EU cooperation, though
tended to overestimate the value of informal NATO-EU staff
contacts.


2. (C) Summary continued: Looking ahead to the NATO Riga
Summit, the Germans agreed that training is one of NATO's key
strengths. They are prepared to work on a training
deliverable, but were hesitant with regard to the idea of a
NATO training center in the Greater Middle East (GME). They
suggested that NATO expand ongoing training activities for
personnel from the region first to test the commitments of
potential regional partner governments. MOD officials were
fairly cool to the idea of participating in an initiative for
NATO countries to purchase and operate C-17s on behalf of
NATO, citing Germany's role in the recent stand-up of the
Strategic Airlift Interim Solution (SALIS) as a reason for
Germany not doing more now. They were, however, generally
open to the idea of increased interoperability between NATO
special operations forces (SOF),though they will need to
study the proposal further. End Summary.


3. (U) During a May 18-19 visit to Berlin, Amb. Nuland

discussed USG priorities in the run-up to the Riga Summit
with senior German officials, including in separate meetings
with MFA State Secretary Reinhard Silberberg, Chancellery
National Security Advisor Christoph Heusgen, MOD
Parliamentary State Secretary Christian Schmidt, and MFA
Deputy Political Director Ulrich Brandenburg. During the
visit, Amb. Nuland also emphasized the U.S. message in
interviews with German print and broadcast media, as well as
in public outreach events with the Aspen Institute Berlin and
the 23rd International Workshop on Global Security.

--------------
NATO Enlargement
--------------


4. (C) Citing "EU enlargement fatigue", MFA State Secretary
Silberberg was skeptical about near-term prospects for
Ukraine moving to a NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP). He
also stated that he thought that the June Informal Defense
Ministerial in Brussels would be too soon for NATO to offer
Georgia ID, and questioned Georgia's progress on reforms.
Beyond "enlargement fatigue", Silberberg highlighted possible
Russian reactions as a concern, arguing that "we need to find
ways to avoid having Russia spoil the party." NSA Heusgen
asked for assurances -- which Nuland said she could not give
-- that the USG would not push for MAP for Georgia at the
Riga Summit, if Georgia received ID now. MOD Parliamentary
State Secretary Schmidt agreed that Georgia's political
leadership needs ID sooner than later, in order to
demonstrate to the Georgian public the benefits of staying
the reform course, saying he personally supported it.
However, he noted that the German government had not yet made
a decision on ID for Georgia. Amb. Nuland underlined that
there is no linkage between EU and NATO enlargement
processes, that Ukraine and Georgia should be judged only on
NATO criteria, that Russia should not be given a veto over
Alliance enlargement decisions, and that the Georgian
leadership needs ID now to keep them on course. In a
follow-up to her meetings, Amb. Nuland subsequently provided
Silberberg, Schmidt, and Heusgen detailed information
regarding Georgia's recent achievements on reform.
--------------
Global Partnership for NATO
--------------


5. (C) Silberberg said that Germany is interested in working
closely with countries such as Australia, Japan, and New
Zealand, but wants to avoid creating "formalized frameworks"
that could lead to expectations that cannot be met. Amb.
Nuland explained the USG's concept for a flexible "big box"
that would provide current and future partners opportunities
for increased cooperation with NATO, without replacing any of
the current frameworks. While generally positive in his
response, Silberberg stressed the advantages of keeping the
approach "practical" and informal, cautioning that otherwise
the initiative could run into resistance.

--------------
Darfur
--------------


6. (C) Amb. Nuland outlined current USG thinking about a
two-step approach to enhanced NATO support for the AU as it
prepares to transition its operations to a UN mission. She
explained that the USG hoped that German staff officers at
NATO would be able to participate as called upon in a first
phase of further developing AU capacities, and that at least
a handful of German military personnel would serve in a
second phase as embedded trainers with AU troops, if NATO and
the AU decide on this. Silberberg said he thought the
approach made sense in political terms, but made no
commitment about possible German troop participation. PStS
Schmidt noted that, in his former capacity as opposition
parliamentarian, he had raised concerns about a possible
Darfur mission. With reference to current German
parliamentary scrutiny of the EU's upcoming Congo mission, he
said he could not yet say what additional contributions
Germany would make in Darfur, or even whether there would be
any additional contributions. MFA NATO Desk Director
Eberhard Pohl was positive on the prospect of German staff
officers at NATO being able to provide enabling assistance to
the AU, but more cautious about the idea of embedded
trainers. Heusgen took Amb. Nuland's message on board,
noting the importance of getting through the domestic debate
on Congo before Germany could seriously consider even a
modest Darfur contribution. In a similar vein, Chancellery
Director for Transatlantic Relations Dirk Brengelmann said
Germany sees the decision point on the NATO-Darfur issue as
"months" down the road, not weeks. Nuland urged them to be
ready for decisions in June.

--------------
NATO-EU Relations
--------------


7. (C) Deputy PolDir Brandenburg remarked that there is
considerable interchange at the staff level between the EU
and NATO. Amb. Nuland countered that such staff-level
interactions are having insufficient effect on EU and NATO
institutional relationships, noting that there had not even
been informal NATO-EU consultations on the EU's upcoming
Congo mission. She said things won't change much unless and
until EU Allies push within the EU for more consultation with
NATO. Thinking ahead to the German EU Presidency, Heusgen
said he wants to brainstorm further on strengthening formal
and informal NATO-EU ties, an offer Nuland welcomed.

--------------
NATO Training
--------------


8. (C) Brandenburg remarked that training is one of NATO's
key strengths and that programs such as the Partnership for
Peace (PfP) are a model for security cooperation. He said
that Germany is interested in learning more about current USG
thinking about a NATO training center in the Middle East.
Brandenburg reported that Germany also was looking at ways to
enhance already existing training programs with countries in
the region. He wondered if it would not be possible to "put
something together that would fly" at the Riga Summit. MFA
NATO Desk Director Eberhard Pohl said that it will be
important that NATO "not fail" in this effort. Therefore, he
explained, Germany was thinking of ways to test the
commitment of countries in the region to training with NATO,
possibly by bringing the trainees out of the region to
already established centers/programs. Observing that NATO
countries already were doing that, Amb. Nuland explained the
advantages of building long-term relationships both with and
within the GME by having a center there. She emphasized the
need to ensure regional "buy in" by requiring Middle East
states to finance the building and its operational costs, and
to participate in curriculum development.

--------------
NATO Strategic Airlift: C-17 Initiative
--------------


9. (C) Amb. Nuland urged MOD PStS Schmidt to give careful
consideration to a forthcoming USG proposal for NATO
countries to purchase and operate C-17s on behalf of NATO, to
help to address the Alliance's dire shortage of strategic
airlift. Schmidt responded that, because Germany had just
gotten the Strategic Airlift Interim Solution (SALIS)
arrangement up and running, a "second system is not on the
agenda for us." However, he said he would be interested in
seeing the details of the C-17 proposal.

--------------
NATO Special Operations Forces
--------------


10. (C) Amb. Nuland briefed MOD StS Schmidt on the pending
proposal for NATO to increase the interoperability of Allies'
national SOF. The initiative possibly could be announced at
the Riga Summit. Commenting that he will be in Tampa
(CENTCOM) in June, Schmidt underlined that there had been
good cooperation among national SOFs in Afghanistan. While
indicating general openness to the idea, he conceded that he
had not yet thought about enhancing SOF interoperability in
the NATO context.
BAUMAN