Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06BUCHAREST287
2006-02-17 16:43:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Bucharest
Cable title:  

ROMANIAN AND UKRAINIAN VIEWS ON PRESIDENT

Tags:  PREL ECON PBTS MD UP RO 
pdf how-to read a cable
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DE RUEHBM #0287/01 0481643
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 171643Z FEB 06 ZDS
FM AMEMBASSY BUCHAREST
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3730
INFO RUEHKV/AMEMBASSY KIEV PRIORITY 1186
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BUCHAREST 000287 

SIPDIS

C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (MISSING PARAGRAPH)

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/NCE BILL SILKWORTH

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/16/2016
TAGS: PREL ECON PBTS MD UP RO
SUBJECT: ROMANIAN AND UKRAINIAN VIEWS ON PRESIDENT
BASESCU'S RECENT VISIT TO KIEV

BUCHAREST 00000287 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: CLASSIFIED BY DCM MARK TAPLIN FOR REASONS 1.4 (B),(D) A
ND (E)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BUCHAREST 000287

SIPDIS

C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (MISSING PARAGRAPH)

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/NCE BILL SILKWORTH

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/16/2016
TAGS: PREL ECON PBTS MD UP RO
SUBJECT: ROMANIAN AND UKRAINIAN VIEWS ON PRESIDENT
BASESCU'S RECENT VISIT TO KIEV

BUCHAREST 00000287 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: CLASSIFIED BY DCM MARK TAPLIN FOR REASONS 1.4 (B),(D) A
ND (E)


1. (C) Summary: Romanian MFA officials expressed cautious
optimism that the new bilateral commission set up by
President Traian Basescu and Ukrainian President Yushchenko
could yield concrete results in resolving historic problems
between the two countries such as competing territorial
claims over Snake Island. The two presidents officially
established the commission during Basescu's February 2-3 trip
to Kiev. At the same time, the MFA noted that Basescu viewed
the trip generally as "outreach" to help pull Ukraine towards
NATO and the EU. A local Ukrainian Embassy officer
acknowledged that Kiev is "trying to figure out" how to deal
with these issues and Romania may indeed be able to play a
helpful role. Whether or not the Yushchenko-Basescu
commission actually proves effective, as a reliable NATO
partner and soon-to-be EU member, Romania could provide a
useful partner for Ukraine and other countries in the region
that aspire to follow a similar path to membership in the two
institutions. End Summary.


Yushchenko-Basescu Commission to "Tackle Tough Problems"
-------------- --------------

2. (C) MFA Director General for Eastern Europe Razvan Rusu
and Director Raluca Neculaescu, gave poloff relatively upbeat
readouts of Romanian President Basescu,s February 2-3 visit
to Ukraine. Rusu said Basescu had two primary goals: to
launch a new joint presidential commission, with
subcommittees to tackle "tough problems" and seek ways to
deepen the bilateral relationship; and second, as a broader
form of "outreach" to help pull Ukraine towards NATO the EU
by encouraging concrete actions to strengthen westward ties.
The two presidents also signed an agreement to open up
several new customs checkpoints along their common frontier
and pledged to open more consulates to serve their respective

minorities on either side of the border.


3. (C) Rusu said the MFA "had already begun" efforts to put
the new Yushchenko-Basescu presidential commission for
addressing bilateral issues into action. He noted that the
commission would have three subcommittees led by cabinet
ministers focused on: 1) regional, European and Euro-Atlantic
security; 2) cooperation on cultural, educational, and
minorities-related issues; and 3) environmental protection
and sustainable development. Specific issues to be addressed
in the committees included human trafficking, Transnistria,
Euro-Atlantic cooperation, delimitation of the continental
shelf, restoration of the Danube-Black Sea navigation
channel, cultural exchanges, humanitarian cooperation, and
regional economic interests in regional development. A
special working group on Transnistria, chaired within the
security subcommittee, will be co-chaired by Ukrainian
Special Envoy for Transnistria, Dmytro Tkach, or his
successor, and Romanian State Secretary Lucian Leustean. Rusu
said Romania agreed to explore Yushchenko,s proposal of
jointly exploiting natural gas and oil resources that may be
found in the Black Sea. Yushchenko also offered to help store
Romania,s spent nuclear fuel -- an offer Basescu suggested
could also provide a possible alternative to domestic mining
as a source of uranium.


4. (C) Turning to what Rusu called the broader "outreach"
objective of the trip, Rusu said Basescu sought to encourage
Ukraine to work towards meeting the "ideals of the Orange
Revolution." This included actions toward liberalizing the
economy, eventually meeting the EU acquis, and strengthening
relations with its western neighbors. Rusu said that, in
Romania's view, Ukraine needed to "show that it knows how to
cooperate" in the region. Rusu said that if Ukraine stays on
this road to the west, Romania would offer Ukraine its help
to meet EU standards and serve as an advocate for Ukraine in
Brussels. Despite these positive overtures from Bucharest,
Neculaescu cautioned that the GOR "took a firm line on
Romanian issues," including the environmental impacts of
Ukrainian dredging in the Bystroe canal, minority rights,
Snake Island, Transnistria, and Ukraine's ostensible $600
million debt to Romania linked to an investment in a
metallurgical facility. She commented that by starting this
commission, they are "re-launching a dialogue on sensitive
issues" that have long histories. But she expressed hope that
the Yushchenko-Basescu commission would provide a forum for
discussing the issues in a "constructive and deliberative
manner."


A View from the Ukrainian Embassy: A "Step Forward"
-------------- --------------

BUCHAREST 00000287 002.2 OF 002



5. (C) Ukrainian Embassy first secretary Vitalii Timis
characterized Basescu's trip to Kiev as a "step forward" for
establishing future collaboration, settling long-standing
conflicts, and helping guide Ukraine toward Euro-Atlantic
integration. He opined that Yushchenko,s team is trying to
figure out how to better interact with NATO and the EU and
acknowledged "Romania knows how to deal with these issues.8
As for the specifics, Timis discounted the need for a
subcommittee to look into minorities, rights. He asserted
that this was simply Basescu,s way to play up a popular
Romanian nationalistic theme. He said minorities, rights are
not a problem for the 150,000 Romanians in Ukraine, or for
the 100,000 ) 200,000 Romanians and Moldovans in Ukraine.
He mentioned as proof that there were 94 schools for that
community taught entirely in Romanian, whereas there was only
one school in Romania for its 70,000 Ukrainians, with only
partial teaching in Ukrainian.


6. (C) With regard to Snake Island, Timis expressed hope that
that delimitation of the continental shelf would eventually
be resolved with the help of the International Court of
Justice in the Hague, and he believed that Ukraine would have
"no problem" with the court,s findings. However, Timis also
mentioned that Yushchenko,s proposal to develop a joint
venture gas company to explore in the currently forbidden
zone of the continental shelf was a Ukrainian attempt to
resolve the border dispute outside of court. He mentioned
that this joint venture, composed of Naftohaz Ukraine or
Chernomor Naftohaz would also distribute gas to Romania. He
said Ukrainian research estimates all point to significant
gas deposits within the disputed area on the continental
shelf.


7. (C) Timis characterized the emerging Ukrainian-Romanian
relationship as being focused on future cooperation rather
than on old technical problems. Timis commented that these
goals are &real, not just diplomatic declarations.8 As for
whether this westward trend would continue after Ukraine,s
upcoming parliamentary elections, Timis said it was difficult
to judge. He expressed his view that there was &much more
pressure from Russia than last time during the presidential
elections,8 and added that Russia had &already done its
homework8 to ensure that there would not be a similar
outcome this time.


8. (C) Regarding Ukraine,s recent gas deal with Russia,
Timis said candidly that Russia insisted on RusUkrEnergo
(RUE) being the intermediary company, that Russia did not
want to disclose who were the shareholders of the firm, that
only a few people in the Ukrainian government knew the
details, and that there were suppositions that the ownership
structure would trace back to Gazprom. Timis said Ukraine was
just happy with the price.


9. (C) Comment: GOR interlocutors emphasize their policy
towards Ukraine reflects a strong interest in resolving
bilateral problems and helping draw Ukraine Westward.
Basescu has also taken pains to cultivate a close connection
to Yushchenko, which includes -- at least according to the
Romanian president -- a regular dialogue by telephone with
the Ukrainian leader. That said, our Romanian contacts at
all levels continue to view with caution and skepticism
developments taking place to the north. According to his
Cotroceni advisors, Basescu is generally pessimistic about a
positive outcome in Kiev's upcoming parliamentary elections,
although he recognizes that the stakes are enormous and he
has his fingers crossed for a Yushchenko-Tymoshenko
reconciliation. But even during the heady days following
Ukraine's Orange Revolution, Romanians remained skeptical
while Romania itself experienced its own "orange" victory
with the election of Basescu and his reform-oriented
center-right government. This wariness, with roots deep in a
problematic history between the two countries, is shared too
by our Ukrainian interlocutors here. In the run-up to the
Basescu visit to Kiev, the Ukrainian charge told DCM that
while Russia was Ukraine's number one problem, Bucharest was
"challenge number two" in the minds of his Ukrainian MFA
colleagues back home. With Romania already a stand-out NATO
partner, poised to join the EU, it could indeed represent an
ally and a model for Ukraine, at least under the right
circumstances. But it is also true that the level of
distrust between Romania and Ukraine is considerable, and
will not be overcome so readily. It is very much in our
interest to promote closer ties and cooperation between these
two key regional states -- and to be prepared to counsel
restraint should old habits of thought and zero-sum thinking
take hold anew. End Comment.
TAUBMAN