DEMARCHE DELIVERED ON APPROACHING THE EU IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L NICOSIA 000901 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/09/2016 TAGS: KPAL PREL SUBJECT: DEMARCHE DELIVERED ON APPROACHING THE EU IN ADVANCE OF THE JUNE 12 FOREIGN MINISTERS MEETING (GAERC) REF: SECSTATE 91167 Classified By: Ambassador Ronald L. Schlicher for reasons 1 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary. Poloff delivered reftel message on June 9 to relevant action officers at the MFA. On the Balkans, Elena Rafti said that Cyprus shared the EU position that Podgorica and Belgrade must be encouraged to work together in order to implement the outcome of the May 21 referendum. On Bosnia, Rafti agreed that the EU and US must remain politically engaged, while being careful to avoid stifling the country's ability to evolve democratically. Savvas Vladimirou briefly outlined the EU's "short and long term strategy on Cuba," which included improving dialogue and increasing government contacts with Havana. In the absence of Charalambos Hadjisavvas, who handles Middle Eastern issues in the MFA's Political Affairs Division, his colleague promised to pass on the points regarding Iraq and Palestinian Assistance. End Summary. ¶2. (C) Elena Rafti, who handles the Balkans in the MFA's Bilateral Affairs Division, said that Cyprus would follow the EU lead by encouraging Podgorica and Belgrade "to work together and utilize all EU resources at their disposal in implementing the referendum outcome." She praised EU Envoy Lajcak's success in gathering the necessary political, security, logistics, and linguistic expertise to create the conditions for a well executed referendum. She expects the EU to provide similar resources in the implementation of the referendum's outcome. ¶3. (C) Rafti was disheartened that US assistance to the central government of Serbia had been suspended because of Belgrade's failure to cooperate with the ICTY, but commended the US decision to exempt humanitarian and democratic programs. She noted that Cyprus would follow the EU lead in continuing to work with Belgrade in promoting positive change and encouraging a pro-European message. On Bosnia, Rafti said that Cyprus strongly disagreed with the US position on enforcing a strict timeline for the OHR's transition. The ROC, she said, shared the EU perspective that "excessive pressure from the international community in the short term was likely to threaten the success of the Peace Implementation Council in the long term." ¶4. (C) Savvas Vladimirou, who handles Latin American Issues in the MFA's Political Affairs Division, told us that the EU had revised its longstanding 1996 common position towards Cuba in anticipation of "Fidel Castro's untimely demise and succession." Vladimirou said that Cyprus, along with other EU member states, will work "to establish new links within the Cuban government in the short term and increase dialogue in order to create the conditions for a peaceful leadership transition in the long term." He told us that the EU has resolved to "use all resources available" to improve political contacts with Havana by funding conferences, monitoring the domestic political situation, and increasing the number and frequency of visits from EU delegates to Cuba. Vladimirou stressed the importance of "softly criticizing Cuba for its oppression of human, economic, and political rights," but discouraged the "complete alienation of the current government." SCHLICHER