MUNICH SECURITY CONFERENCE OVERVIEW: MERKEL URGES

UNCLAS MUNICH 000114

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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PARM NATO IAEA NPT ENRG IR GM

SUBJECT: MUNICH SECURITY CONFERENCE OVERVIEW: MERKEL URGES
PRIMACY OF NATO; IRAN AND ENERGY SECURITY DISCUSSED

SUMMARY:
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1. (SBU) The February 3-5 42nd Munich Conference on
Security Policy ("Wehrkunde") on "Restoring the
Transatlantic Partnership," explored a wide-range of
security policy topics, including the future of NATO, its
relationship with the EU, Russia's relationship with Europe
and NATO, and Foreign and Security policy interests in
Asia. German Chancellor Angela Merkel set the tone for the
conference in a strongly pro-NATO keynote address (septel)
in which she advocated the "primacy of NATO" for European
security policy and chastised Iran - in the presence of
Iranian Deputy FM Abbas Araghchi - for having crossed the
"redline" by resuming nuclear enrichment activities.
Because the Russian Deputy Prime Minister, the Georgian
President and the Ukrainian Defense Minister participated
in the conference, and because the beginning of the
Conference overlapped with the IAEA Special Board of
Governors' (BOG) Meeting, Iran and energy security were
recurrent themes throughout the 3-day conference.


2. (SBU) On the margins of the conference, senior defense
and foreign policy ministers from most European and several
Asian governments met formally or informally in bilateral
meetings. On the US side, SecDef Rumsfeld met with
Chancellor Merkel, Defense Minister Jung and Georgian
President Saakashvili. Deputy Secretary Zoellick met with
NATO SYG de Hoop Scheffer, German National Security Advisor
Heusgen (septel),German FM Steinmeier, and Indian NSA
Narayanan. CODEL McCain's formal bilateral meetings
included: the annual "Transatlantic Breakfast" hosted by
MFA State Secretary Scharioth (septel); a meeting with
German FM Steinmeier; a joint meeting with Estonian FM Paet
and Lithuanian FM Valionis; and a separate meeting with
Georgian President Saakashvili. End Summary.

GEORGIA'S ROLE IN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY POLICY
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3. (U) Georgian President Saakashvili led off the
conference with a dinner speech on Georgia's Role in
International Security Policy. Saakashvili's comments were
relatively muted (he barely mentioned Russia by name),and
mainly made the case that Georgia belongs in the Euro-
Atlantic community and is a good candidate for NATO
membership. Although he mentioned Georgia's energy
dependence on Russia, it was not the focus of his speech.
However, other participants repeatedly mentioned Georgian
energy security concerns during the conference.

MERKEL PUTS NATO FIRST AND FIELDS TOUGH QUESTIONS
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4. (SBU) Chancellor Merkel set the tone for the conference
with a keynote address that emphasized that NATO must be
for Europe and America the first forum for conducting
strategic debates and considering military action. Her
speech, which her staff acknowledges was largely re-written
by her, and her adept fielding of questions, were the
highlights of the conference.

DEFMINS DISCUSS "TESTS" OF U.S.-EUROPEAN PARTNERSHIP
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5. (U) During a panel entitled "Europe and the United
States: A Test of Partnership," SecDef Rumsfeld called for
the world's great democracies - anchored by NATO - to deal
effectively with terrorism, the "greatest challenge to our
security in the 21st century." He described some of the
key tasks ahead, such as: working to make the Proliferation
Security Initiative a Success; helping countries in the
Caucasus and Central Asia to train their security forces by
utilizing Partnership for Peace programs; and continuing to
transform NATO for the 21st Century by investing in the
NATO Response Force, broader common funding, and
encouraging NATO to develop an expeditionary culture and
capability.


6. (U) On the same panel French DefMin Alliot-Marie alleged
that the United Nations was the only true source of
international legitimacy, cautioned against "spreading
ourselves too thin" in areas where other regional

organizations are competent; suggested that the
transatlantic partners should "rely on a European Union cut
out to be a major power pole in the new international
environment"; suggested that the "durability challenge of
the transatlantic link depends on the ability to define a
new partnership between the EU and North America," and
called for making clearer the specificities of NATO and EU
operations. She claimed that ESDP is better adapted to
"lightning" operations and civil-military actions.


7. (U) UK Defense Minister Reid rebutted concerns expressed
by Alliot-Marie and reinforced points made by SECDEF
Rumsfeld with humor and irony. In response to Alliot-
Marie's expressed concern about the dissonance of an
orchestra where all instruments play at the same time, Reid
suggested that NATO and the EU could effectively work
together in the style of a jazz band. Alliot-Marie and
Reid both defended the continued need for a nuclear
deterrent.

MCCAIN COMMENTS ON IRANIAN THREAT, CALLS FOR POSSIBLE
BOYCOTT OF ST. PETERSBURG G8 IN DISCUSSION OF NATO THEMES
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8. (U) NATO SYG de Hoop Scheffer's remarks focused on:
broader and more intense political consultations at NATO on
issues ranging from the Balkans and Afghanistan to Africa
and the Middle East, and energy security; NATO's growing
operational commitments; progress on transformation,
including achieving full operational capability for the
NRF, strengthening NATO's access to strategic lift, and
better funding mechanisms; the need to work more
effectively with partners and to build a pragmatic,
strategic partnership with the European Union; and the need
to bring these themes together at the November 2006 NATO
summit in Riga. In response to a question about a possible
peacekeeping role for NATO in the Palestinian territories,
the SYG stated that no NATO representative can talk to
Hamas.


9. (U) German DefMin Jung said the dialogue within NATO
must address all important security issues, citing Iran's
nuclear program as a case in point. However, he cautioned
that NATO is not a mini-UN, nor the OSCE and warned against
overextending NATO by attempting to assume all
responsibility for guaranteeing peace and security. Jung
said NATO and the EU must agree on the development of their
respective capabilities for crisis management, noting that
the political consultation allowed by Berlin-plus should be
put into practice. NRF is the political litmus test for
the strategic solidarity of the alliance partners, said
Jung, and called for greater burden sharing.


10. (U) Senator McCain brought the discussion back to Iran,
by noting that the IAEA Board of Governors had just voted
in favor of a referral of Iran to the UNSC for violation of
its NPT commitments. Calling upon Russia and China to
support multilateral sanctions against Iran, including a
prohibition on investment, a travel ban, and asset freeze
for government leaders and nuclear scientists, he pointed
out that, protected by a nuclear deterrent, Iran would feel
unconstrained to sponsor terrorist attacks against any
perceived enemy and stimulate other countries in the region
to reconsider their arsenals.


11. (U) Turning his attention to Russia, Senator McCain
said that under Putin, Russia is neither a democracy nor
one of the world's leading economies and questioned whether
the G8 leaders should attend the St. Petersburg summit. He
said that by integrating reformist democracies like Georgia
and Ukraine into transatlantic institutions, the zone of
democratic peace could be extended into regions of vital
interest to Western security. He suggested that
transatlantic partners must extend tangible benefits to
Ukraine as it moves towards reform and Western
orientations, suggesting that a "tangible benefit" would be
endorsement of a Membership Action Plan (MAP) at NATO's
June Ministerial. In the question session following his
speech, Senator McCain suggested that NATO could consider
providing security for energy supply lines.

SENATOR LIEBERMAN URGES DRAMATICALLY INCREASED ROLE FOR
NATO IN DARFUR GENOCIDE AND ENFORCING IRAN SANCTIONS

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12. (U) Leading off the panel on "Resolving Conflicts
through International Cooperation" Albanian Prime Minister
Berisha said economic underdevelopment, poverty and
unemployment in the failed experiment that was Yugoslavia,
could contribute to instability. He asserted that his
government has zero tolerance for organized crime and
criminal trafficking. Noting that international terrorism
can be most effectively fought through international
cooperation, he warned against leaving EU and NATO aspirant
countries in Southeastern Europe hanging.


13. (U) Senator Lieberman said that the genocide taking
place in Darfur creates an urgency that NATO do more by
providing more training and logistic support to the African
Union force. He suggested that NATO could manage command
and control and logistics and provide necessary resources
to sustain the operation and also enforce a no-fly zone
over part of Darfur to stop aggression by Sudanese Forces
and the Janjaweed militia.


14. (U) Ukrainian Defense Minister Grytsenko expanded on
Senator McCain's comments in the previous panel, describing
Russia as "pretending to be a member of the G8" and
complaining that no one knows who is behind the holding
company that has the monopoly on Russian fuel supply lines.
He said that Ukraine has a good record of cooperation with
NATO member states, especially in the context of NATO
Balkans operations, in the Mediterranean, and in Iraq and
Afghanistan, adding that Ukraine is willing to take on a
larger role in shared security tasks. In response to a
question on the need for regional security cooperation,
Grytsenko agreed, noting that he wants to see increased
security cooperation in the Black Sea region and "frozen"
conflict zones in the South Caucasus, and Transnistria.

DEPUTY SECRETARY ZOELLICK, RUSSIAN DEFMIN AND GERMAN FM ON
PROSPECTS FOR COOPERATION ON GLOBAL SECURITY ISSUES
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15. (U) The third day of the conference began with a
Russian Deputy Prime Minister/Defense Minister Ivanov,
German Foreign Minister Steinmeier, and Deputy Secretary
Zoellick discussing "Russian, Europe and the World -
Prospects for Cooperation on Global Security Issues."
Ivanov asserted that the focus of Russia's key economic and
political interests remains in Europe. He said that Russia
is seeking to improve its export legislation, but argued
that export control regimes must not be used as a cover-up
for unfair competition or for ousting competitors from the
military market. He called for establishment of a joint
front for combating international terrorism under the aegis
of the UN to: a) end loopholes in international law and
domestic legislation; and b) overcome double standards in
evaluating terrorist threat, including by reaching a common
definition of "terrorism," alleging that the failure of the
West to criticize terrorists in Chechnya the same way they
criticized terrorists elsewhere reflected a double
standard.


16. (U) Ivanov called for cooperation between Russia and
Europe on energy. He urged that the mechanism of the NATO-
Russia council be transformed from a "political factor,"
into "practical actions" of the Alliance and Russian armed
forces. Ivanov said there is a rising concern about the
destiny of the Conventional Forces Europe Treaty as NATO
moves closer to the Russian borders, and faulted NATO for
continuing to insist on linking ratification with
implementation of the Istanbul commitments on Georgia and
Moldova. He predicted that talks on the future of the CFE
at the third review conference in Vienna in May will be
"complex."


17. (U) In examining global security challenges, Deputy
Secretary Zoellick said movements toward openness have

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cleared the way for the rise of "political Islam," noting a
struggle now exists for the soul of Islam. He added that
he hoped those who had raised their voices on the Danish
cartoons also raise their voices on issues that go to the
soul of Islam, such as bombings and beheadings. The Deputy
Secretary noted that Russia has overlapping interests with

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Europe and the U.S., including internationalization of the

nuclear fuel cycle and in developing China as a responsible
stakeholder in the international system. However, he
expressed concerns about Russia, including that its "state
capitalism" could impede economic development, and that
Russia appeared to have a 19th Century view of the world,
in which it seeks to keep neighbors weak and easily
dominated. The experience of the U.S. and EU shows that
weak neighbors export problems, while stronger neighbors
tend to bring stability. The Deputy Secretary concluded by
identifying four challenges that will define cooperation
between the U.S, Europe, and Russia: 1) the leftover work
from 1989 in the broader European sense; 2) the new
challenges in the broader Middle East; 3) the rise of
China; and 4) globalization.

GLOBAL FOREIGN AND SECURITY INTEREST IN ASIA
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18. (SBU) By the time the final panel, consisting of
Chinese Vice Minister of the PRC Central Committee of the
community Party Zhang Zhijun, India National Security
Advisor Narayanan and Japanese Senior Vice Minister of
Foreign Affairs Shiozaki on Global Foreign and Security
Interests in Asia convened, most of the conference
participants had departed. The discussion was generally
non-controversial on themes such as regional economic
cooperation, but became livelier when the Chinese
participant emotionally discussed the Taiwan issue and the
visit of Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi to the war
memorial.


19. This report was coordinated with Embassy Berlin.


20. Previous reporting from Munich is available on our
SIPRNET website at www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/munich/.

ROONEY