May 4 U.S.-Russia - EU Multi Presidency Meeting

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 VIENNA 001551

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR CA, EUR/ERA, EUR/PGI AND EUR/AGS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV CVIS CPAS KCRM KFRD SMIG EUN AU
SUBJECT: May 4 U.S.-Russia - EU Multi Presidency Meeting

VIENNA 00001551 001.2 OF 004


THIS MESSAGE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED.


1. (SBU) Summary. In the first meeting of its kind, U.S.,
Russian and EU officials met informally in Vienna May 4 to
discuss possible areas for future cooperation in the fight
against terrorism, organized crime and corruption, and
illegal immigration. The U.S. delegation was led by
Attorney General Gonzales, accompanied by DHS Deputy
Secretary Jackson with Russian participants including

SIPDIS
Presidential Aide Viktor Ivanov and Minister of the Interior
Nurgaliev. EU officials included Austrian Minister of the
Interior Prokop and EU Commissioner Frattini, as well as
representatives from the next four countries scheduled to
hold the EU Council Presidency (Finland, Germany, Portugal
and Slovenia). After the exploratory discussions aimed at
defining possible areas of future tripartite cooperation,
the Parties agreed to have an expert group flesh out
proposals, and, if warranted, the Germans have indicated a
willingness to hold a first formal tripartite meeting during
their January - June 2006 Presidency. Communique from the
meeting is contained in para 14. End Summary.


2. (SBU) Noting that the EU has been holding separate
discussions in the area of justice and home affairs with
both the U.S. and Russia for some time, Austrian Interior
Minister Prokop explained that in connection with the
implementation of the EU JHA external strategy paper adopted
last December, it was thought that the time was right to
meet informally in a tripartite forum with U.S. and Russian
representatives.


3. (SBU) Russian Presidential Aide Ivanov noted that this
was "an unusual, but important forum" for discussion of
global problems such as terrorism and criminal networks that
must be combated on an international level. He outlined
Russian cooperation with the EU on cyber-crime and border
security, noting that Russian internet sites have been
attacked from both New York and Bogota in the last year. He
described Russian progress with biometric passports and
urged the adoption of a common definition of terrorism.


4. (SBU) The Attorney General agreed that terrorism, child
pornography and cyber-crime recognized no borders and
required international cooperation in order to combat them
effectively. He specifically listed three subjects where
international cooperation could be effective - a) organized
crime and corruption in border areas; b) trafficking in
persons (TIP); and c) money laundering, in particular via
shell companies.


5. (SBU) EU Commissioner Frattini said that a balance had
to be struck between providing security to citizens and the
personal and privacy rights of those same citizens. He
agreed a global approach was needed and described the EU
strategy to combat terrorism as one of prevent, protect,
pursue and respond. He also felt that a common definition
of terrorism was needed in order to distinguish between
freedom of expression and incitement. Frattini urged the
protection of critical infrastructure and a common fight
against cyber-crime, in particular the protection of
children. He suggested that more effective use be made of
EUROPOL and EUROJUST.


6. (SBU) Multi Presidency speakers congratulated the
Austrian Presidency on its attempt to ensure continuity in
the important fight against terrorism and organized crime,
noting that globalization required a global coordinated
response to these issues. The German representative said
the Austrian initiative constituted "the right time, the
right topics and the right format." He noted that it should
not compete with G-8 or troika formats, but rather
complement them. He said the inclusion of the U.S. and
Russia provided "added-value" to the discussions and called
for the ratification of relevant international conventions.
Finally, he underlined the need to cooperate internationally
in order to stop Afghan drug trafficking.


7. (SBU) The Finnish representative welcomed the inclusion
of Russia and described the importance of close Finnish-
Russian cooperation on their common border. In this regard,
he urged more direct data exchange and suggested the EU
establish multi-points of contact to facilitate the more
effective exchange of data between border control posts.
Slovenia urged greater future cooperation with Russian and
U.S. officials and suggested that future action-oriented
papers on issues such as child pornography and TIP be
coordinated with the U.S. and Russia. The Portuguese
representative supported the proposal for an official

VIENNA 00001551 002.2 OF 004


tripartite meeting in 2007.


8. (SBU) Russian Minister of the Interior Nurgaliev
identified terrorism and trafficking as the primary issues
ripe for international cooperation and urged an action-
oriented approach.


9. (SBU) The Attorney General then listed three areas he
considered appropriate for international attention by this
group - a) the criminal and other issues resulting from the
unstable situation on the border of Georgia and Moldova; b)
TIP; and c) money laundering. He suggested that an expert
group come up with specific proposals. Austrian Interior
Minister Prokop agreed that a lack of border security
encouraged organized crime and corruption and noted that the
EU has a pilot project with Moldova and the Ukraine. EU
Commissioner Frattini agreed more security was needed in the
Moldova-Georgia-Ukraine region. He also expressed the need
for better and more common statistics on organized crime and
corruption.


10. (SBU) Germany requested that Afghan drug trafficking be
added to the list of common concerns and agreed that another
tripartite meeting would be appropriate in a year, but only
if it would produce concrete results.


11. (SBU) Deputy Secretary Jackson urged that border
security and the security of travel documents also be
discussed at any future meeting, noting the need for more
progress on E-passports and visas, the reporting of lost and
stolen passports and the confiscation of fraudulent
documents. He urged that more detailed data be exchanged on
lost and stolen passports.


12. (SBU) Russian representative Ivanov said he agreed with
Germany that drug trafficking was a priority issue. He
noted that the issue of the Georgia-Moldova border was a
sensitive one and already being addressed in the OSCE forum,
urging that duplication of ongoing work in other for a be
avoided. (Comment: The Russians were clearly irritated by
the Attorney General's reference to the frozen conflicts
issues on the Georgia-Moldova border. In later
conversations with other delegations, they claimed to be
puzzled by the lack of consultation by the U.S. on this and
suggested that in the future they might be forced to raise
issues related to the U.S.-Mexican border.)


13. (SBU) The meeting concluded with the Austrian
Presidency suggesting a list of joint topics to be explored
with regard to future tripartite cooperation be included in
the communique and proposing that an expert group should
prepare an agenda for an official tripartite meeting in

2007.


14. (U) There follows the agreed communiqu from the May 4
meeting:

EU Multi-Presidency - Russian Federation - United States of
America
Meeting at Ministerial level
Communique
Vienna (Austria),4 May 2006

In the margin of the Vienna Ministerial Conference on
Security Partnership, representatives of the European Union
(EU),the Russian Federation and the United States of
America met on 4 May 2006 in order to discuss possible
future tripartite cooperation in the field of justice and
home affairs.

This Meeting of Ministers was chaired by Liese PROKOP,
Federal Minister of the Interior and current President of
the Council of the European Union (EU).

The EU side also comprised Kari RAJAMAKI, Minister of the
Interior of Finland, Peter ALTMAIER, Secretary of State,
Federal Ministry of the Interior of Germany, Dragutin MATE,
Minister of the Interior of Slovenia, Antonio COSTA,
Minister of the Interior of Portugal, (representing the
incoming Presidencies of the EU),Franco FRATTINI, Vice-
President of the EU Commission, and Ivan BIZJAK, General
Director of the General Secretariat of the Council of the
European Union. The United Kingdom was represented at
official level.

The delegation of the Russian Federation was represented by
Viktor IVANOV, Presidential Aide, Rashid NURGALIEV, Minister
of the Interior, and Viktor KOMOGOROW, Deputy Director of

VIENNA 00001551 003.2 OF 004


the Federal Security Service.

The delegation of the United States of America was
represented by Alberto GONZALES, Attorney General, and
Michael JACKSON, Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security.



I. General Findings

The participants of the meeting welcomed the first
opportunity for a discussion of issues of common concern in
relation to internal and homeland security between high
officials responsible for home affairs from the EU, the
Russian Federation and the United States. They indicated
that this meeting could start a process towards a
cooperative tripartite relationship in the field of justice
and home affairs between these partners.


II. Concept of Cooperative Relationship

The EU side outlined that its Strategy for the External
Dimension of Justice and Home Affairs calls for the
elaboration of a partnership with third countries in the
field of justice and home affairs, which includes
strengthening the rule of law and promoting the respect for
human rights and international obligations.

The Russian Federation underlined its readiness to cooperate
in a tripartite format on internal security issues and
stressed the importance of operational cooperation. In this
context, it noted the successful development of the EU-
Russian cooperation on the basis of its Road Map on the
common space of freedom, security and justice.

The United States noted its extensive cooperative
relationship with the EU on Justice and Home Affairs issues
as well as its history of enforcement cooperation with the
Russian Federation.

The Parties stressed that the development of an area of
enhanced freedom, security and justice can only be
successfully achieved through relationships based on mutual
cooperation.

The participants therefore discussed the following key
principles of a possible future "Tripartite Cooperative
Relationship" in the field of justice and home affairs:

Willingness to work together in order to tackle common
threats and problems in the field of justice and home
affairs.
Efforts to make justice and home affairs a priority in
external relations.
Work towards action-oriented solutions, especially in
the fight against terrorism, transnational organised crime,
corruption and illegal migration.
Applying a differentiated and flexible approach,
including a multi-disciplinary assessment of needs.
Promoting the implementation of principles and norms of
international law.
Recognizing the rule of law and democratic rights as
means of bolstering security.
Mobilisation of operational resources to work towards
common objectives in addressing internal and homeland
security issues.


III. Special Areas for Cooperation

The participants of the meeting identified the following
special areas for possible enhanced cooperation:

Combating Terrorism: Radicalisation and Recruitment;
Financing; Cyberterrorism; Bringing terrorist and their
supporters to justice
Fight against Organized Crime and Corruption: Money
: Money
Laundering; Drug Trafficking and Trafficking in Human
Beings; Cybercrime
Countering Illegal Immigration, Security of Identity
Documents and Border Control


IV. Conclusion

Participants noted the importance of today's meeting which
enabled for the first time Ministers responsible for home

VIENNA 00001551 004.2 OF 004


affairs from the EU, the Russian Federation and the United
States to have an open exchange of views in relation to
security issues. They stressed that the Vienna Initiative
could start a process towards a "Tripartite Cooperative
Relationship" in the field of justice and home affairs.

Participants therefore indicated their willingness to work
towards a meeting organized by the German EU-Presidency in
the first half of 2007 to consider such a proposal. They
invited experts to explore the added value accomplished
through on such a tripartite cooperation and to come forward
with relevant recommendations. The first expert meeting in
this context will be held in the second half of 2006.

MCCAW