EU MAKES BELARUS AN OFFER, AWAITING RESPONSE

C O N F I D E N T I A L KYIV 004466

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT ALSO FOR EUR/UMB AND EUR/ERA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/05/2016
TAGS: PREL KDEM PHUM EAID EUN BO UP
SUBJECT: EU MAKES BELARUS AN OFFER, AWAITING RESPONSE


Classified By: Political Counselor Kent Logsdon for reasons 1.4(b,d)


1. (C) Summary: EU European Commission official Jean-Eric
Holzapfel told us December 4 that the initial Belarusan
government reaction was noncommittal to the November 21
delivery of an EU non-paper stating its readiness to assist
Belarus if the government implemented democratic reforms.
The timing of a follow-up EU Troika visit on the offer was in
doubt after initial plans to visit during the week of
December 4 had been scrubbed due to conflicts with the OSCE
ministerial. Regardless of Minsk's response to the offer,
the EU had succeeded in one area -- communicating to the
Belarusan people its willingness to help Belarus. End
summary.


2. (U) We met December 4 with the EC's Jean-Eric Holzapfel, a
French citizen whose business card describes him as
"Coordinator of Relations with the Republic of Belarus," to
obtain a read-out of European Commission Head of Delegation
Ian Boag's November 20-21 visit to Minsk. (While based in
Kyiv, Boag is dually accredited to Belarus.) As reported by
the media and the EC's press release, the EU transmitted a
document both in Minsk and Brussels "setting out what the EU
could bring to Belarus, were Belarus to engage in
democratization and respect for human rights and rule of
law." Holzapfel told us Boag visited Minsk expressly to
present the non-paper, entitled "What the European Union
Could Bring to Belarus," to Belarusan government officials.


3. (SBU) Holzapfel said Boag and the Charges d'Affaires of
the German and Slovak Embassies in Minsk, representing the EU
Troika, met with new Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei
Yevdochenko and then Boag met alone with the head of the
Presidential Administration Foreign Policy Department, Maxim
Vladimirovich Reznikov, to pass the non-paper. (Note: The
full text of the non-paper and the press release can be found
in the European Commission section of the EU website.) Boag
had also held a press conference while in Minsk and met with
NGO representatives to brief them on the EU effort.


4. (C) Holzapfel observed the Belarusan officials had only a
few days to digest the contents of the non-paper, so their
initial reaction was noncommittal. A follow-up EU Troika
visit had initially been planned for the week of December 4,
but the unavailability of the appropriate officials due to
the OSCE Ministerial had forced cancellation of the plans.
The EU was considering its options. The Finnish presidency
very much wanted the visit to occur during its tenure, but
the time remaining before the end of the year was limited.
If the visit slipped to the German presidency, the timing of
the trip would be complicated by the onset of the Belarusan
local elections (in January).


5. (C) In the meantime, Holzapfel commented, he and his
colleagues were gauging the Belarusan reaction as conveyed in
the media. Belarus Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Popov
had sounded a skeptical and cool note, characterizing the EU
offer as "nothing new" and an EU attempt to "impose some
incomprehensible and abstract declaration." Popov had also
charged that the EU was attempting to impose "real economic
sanctions against Belarus, which will affect the concrete and
vital interests of ordinary Belarusans" and noted the
imminent increase in Schengen visa charges for Belarusan
travel to the EU. On the other hand, Presidential
Administration deputy Natalya Petkevich on November 26 had
indicated Belarusan readiness to begin consultations, adding
that "Belarus is "ready for dialogue with the European Union,
the United States, and any other country in the world, but on
the basis of equality and mutual respect." Holzapfel noted
her comments might be significant since rumor had it that
Petkevich was Belarusan President Lukashenko's mistress. In
the end, the Belarusans might condition their response on the
EU decision regarding suspension of Generalized System of
(trade) Preferences (GSP),a decision that the EU was to take
up in Brussels December 5.


6. (C) Whatever the outcome, Holzapfel said the EU had wanted
to send a message to the Belarusan people that the EU was
ready to engage with Belarus if the government took the
appropriate steps to institute democratic reforms. He had
held a regional press conference in Brest November 29 to
reinforce this message. We noted that any news was better
than no news when Holzapfel said Belarusan national TV had
broadcast a report critical of the EU offer on November 26.


7. (U) Visit Embassy Kyiv's classified website:
www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/kiev.
Gwaltney