98TH U.S.-GREECE JOINT COMMISSION: MEETING SUMMARY

UNCLAS ATHENS 000496

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: MARR PREL GR
SUBJECT: 98TH U.S.-GREECE JOINT COMMISSION: MEETING SUMMARY



1. (SBU) SUMMARY AND COMMENT: The 98th session of the
U.S.-Greek Joint Commission dealing with bilateral
political-military issues, particularly relations between the
U.S. Souda Naval Support Activity (NSA) in Crete and the
Government of Greece (GoG),was held in Athens on February 28
and made progress on a number of significant issues. On the
Marathi fuel pipeline, Greek JC Co-Chairman Grigorios
Vassiloconstandakis said he expected that after a little time
to get acclimated, the new mayor of Akrotiri was likely to
give approval to the project. The Greek-language version of
the NATO 302 customs form had been finished and sent to Greek
customs offices, which should begin using it shortly. The
GoG was exploring several ways to solve the problem of black
fuel dye, which has been a nuisance for the U.S. but has cost
Greece millions of euros in lost revenue. The GoG believed
it must submit not only the latest amendment to the ACSA
agreement to Parliament for ratification but the entire
agreement; U.S. JC Co-Chairman DCM Thomas Countryman
expressed concern that Parliamentary inaction or disapproval
of the ACSA could complicate U.S.-Greek cooperation. The
U.S. side briefed on the Military Extraterritorial
Jurisdiction Act, which the Greek side would study at length.
The Greek side also said that a number of NSA requests on
land-use projects had been approved or were on track to be
approved. COMMENT: The U.S. side was very impressed with the
performance of Greek Co-Chairman Vassiloconstandakis, who has
proved to be efficient and straightforward. We hope that his
performance thus far will continue in future JC cooperation.
END SUMMARY AND COMMENT.

Marathi Fuel Pipeline
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2. (SBU) The existing JP-5 fuel pipeline was installed at NSA
in 1976 to provide fuel capability for NSA air field
operations. Over the last five years, the pipeline has
experienced a significant internal degradation and is in need
of replacement. Replacement of the line has been hampered,
however, by local officials' refusal to give excavation
permits. Vassiloconstandakis said that he had gone to Souda
the previous week and met the new mayor. The new mayor had a
positive attitude toward cooperation with NSA and understood
the need for a solution to the problem of the fuel pipeline.
The mayor asked for a little time to get his feet on the
ground and then would present the issue to the town council,
which he expected would give its approval. DCM emphasized
that the sooner the mayor and council gave approval, the
sooner the U.S. side could have funding re-instated.

NATO Form 302 ) Status of Greek Translation
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3. (SBU) Customs officials have been inconsistent in their
willingness to accept the standard U.S. version of NATO form
302, which NSA and other U.S. military operations in Greece
needed for various import/export purposes.
Vassiloconstandakis said that a couple of weeks ago the MFA
had an interagency meeting with the approving authorities
from the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and were told that the 302
form was finished and already had been sent to customs
offices all over Greece. He said that at the beginning it
might be a little trying but the form,s use should be
normalized soon. The DCM asked for a copy of the regulation
that was sent to the customs offices and Vassiloconstandakis
gave him the number of the regulation: T851/12/BOO19/19 Feb

2007.

Fuel Color
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4. (SBU) DCM explained that the GoG decision to add black dye
to marine fuel oil meant that Sealift Vessels could not
verify the purity of the fuel through visual inspection. As
a result, U.S. vessels were buying fuel from suppliers in
other countries, which was inconvenient for the U.S. but was
costing Greece millions of euros in loss lost income from oil
sales, as well as lost purchases by visiting sailors at Greek
ports. Vassiloconstandakis said the GoG was considering a
couple of solutions to the problem. He said that the U.S.
ships were also NATO ships and with a ministerial degree, all
NATO ships could be exempted from adding the black dye to the
fuel. Another solution was to use another, non-opaque color,
which would allow the U.S. Navy to perform its "clear and
bright" visual tests on Greek marine fuel samples.

Status of ACSA Amendment
--------------

5. (SBU) The Greek Co-Chair said MFA Legal and MoF Legal now
believe the initial Acquisition and Cross Servicing Agreement
(ACSA) signed in 1996, as well as more recently proposed
amendments, must be ratified by the Parliament. (NOTE: ACSA
is a bi-lateral agreement that allows Greece and the United
States to exchange military logistics services, such as
transportation and repair. The original agreement was
regarded as a working-level document and was never submitted
to the Greek Parliament for approval. END COMMENT.) He
proposed that a new text identical to the existing ACSA be
drafted incorporating the proposed amendments and be sent for
ratification to the Greek Parliament. The Greek Co-Chair
believed this was the easiest way to have the ACSA ratified.
The DCM asked whether we could continue using the old
agreement until the new agreement was ratified. The Greek
Co-Chair said he would ask and inform us.
Vassiloconstandakis responded negatively to Col May,s
question whether by ratifying the amendment the Greek
Parliament would implicitly ratify the underlying agreement
as well.

DETE Customs Inspection Fees
--------------


6. (SBU) The U.S. side explained that the Greek MoF,s March
2006 decision to collect inspection fees for customs
inspections was not allowed under the SOFA.
Vassiloconstandakis said he understood the problem but argued
that DETE was not a tax but a fee for services rendered. The
Greek Co-Chair said perhaps DETE could continue to be levied
but waived for U.S. forces. The DCM countered that such a
procedure would set a negative precedent and seemed
inconsistent with the SOFA. The Greek Co-Chair said he
understood U.S. concern and proposed that the U.S. legal and
MFA and MoF legal get together and find a solution. He
requested the U.S. side send a Dip Note explaining the
problem.

Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (MEJA)
-------------- --------------


7. (SBU) The U.S. side explained that MEJA was U.S.
legislation permitting the United States to prosecute
civilians for crimes they committed overseas while
accompanying the U.S. military and did not alter existing
multilateral or bilateral arrangements. The Greek delegation
said that they did not see any areas for concern but would
study the issues further before signing a confirmation
statement.

Land Lease Update
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8. (SBU) NSA needs additional land to increase the stand off
distance and force protection posture at Souda Bay. Without
this addition, NSA cannot utilize 30 dormitory rooms located
close to the base perimeter. The U.S. originally requested
permission to lease land outside of the perimeter fence in
June 2000 and the request has been taken up at JC meetings
ever since. Vassiloconstandakis said he now has information
that the pertinent Greek authorities finalized their work on
Dec 15, 2006. They had finished the expropriation procedures
and were now in the public-comment phase, waiting for
possible objections from land-owners. There were no
objections so far. The time that the owners had to object
was unclear, but less than a year.

Project - New Communication Circuit
--------------


9. (SBU) NSA has had an unforeseen surge in their
communications requirements and is at maximum, or near
maximum, capacity on their existing bandwidth. The Defense
Information Technology Contracting Organization - Europe
(DITCO-Europe) wants to increase the telecommunications
bandwidth at NSA with a 45 MB circuit from Capodichino,
Italy. CDR High told the JC that the increase in the
telecommunication bandwidth would help Souda overcome
limitations due to the current circuit saturation. The Greek
side was in favor of the new Communication circuit and asked
whether Greek forces at Souda could also take advantage of
this. CDR High said yes. The Greek Co-Chair said he would
forward the request.

New Project ) New Navy Exchange Construction Project (P-744)
-------------- --------------


10. (SBU) NSA wishes to construct a new Navy Exchange (NEX).
The construction is estimated to cost 9 million dollars and
must commence soon in order to spend time-sensitive fiscal
year funds. The Navy needs the project to increase on-base
Navy Exchange (NEX) storage capacity and retail floor space.
The current NEX was designed to service a base population of
130 military personnel and visiting ships. The base military
population is now 387 and the number of ships visiting
Marathi Piers, including NATO ships, has increased by 75%.
Vassiloconstandakis said the GoG had approved the project and
notification was en route.

Approval of Security Department Use of Portable Armory
-------------- --------------


11. (SBU) NSA would like to install a portable armory at
building 56. The project would allow implementation of
procedures that are consistent with USN, NATO, and
host-nation safety and security regulations for the
protection of weapons and ammunition. NSA already has
suitable hardware available, equipped with required intruder
detection systems. The new armory would not cause NSA Souda
Bay to initiate any modifications to their current security
manning levels, number of weapons, or ammunition levels.
Vassiloconstandakis said the GoG had approved the project.

Approval to Use Portable Fire Training Trailer
-------------- -


12. (SBU) On October 30, 2006, NSA commander Capt. Sale sent
a letter to the Greek representative at Souda Bay asking for
"approval to construct a concrete pad where a mobile Fire
Department training trailer will be placed." The Fire
Department training trailer is a CONEX-sized box that will be
intentionally set on fire so fire crews can practice
extinguishing real flames. A concrete pad is needed so that
the practice burns can be kept safe. Without underlying
containment infrastructure, heat and flames could escape from
the Fire Dept training trailer and ignite non-intended
material. Greek Souda commander Colonel Kontogiannis said he
would get an answer from HAF in about a week.

NEXT MEETING DATE
--------------


13. (SBU) It was agreed to hold the next JC at Souda Bay in
July.

MEETING PARTICIPANTS
--------------


14. (SBU) Meeting participants included the following:

U.S. Delegation:

Mr. Thomas Countryman, DCM
Dr. Paul Carter, Chief, Political-Military Affairs
Col. Steve Boukedes, Chief, Office of Defense Cooperation
(ODC)
Lt. Col. Rob May, ODC
Ms. Cathy Hirt, ODC
Ms. Alexandra Karavasilli, ODC
Commander Wayne High, Executive Officer, Souda Bay NSA
Mr. Bruce Gale, Executive Assistant, Souda Bay NSA
Lt. Brett Cook, JAG, Souda Bay NSA
Major Kiriakos Kalogiannis, USMC, ODC

Greek Delegation:

MFA

Mr. Grigorios Vassiloconstandakis, Acting Director A7
Department
Ms. Panagiota Konstantinopoulou, A7 Department
Ms. Jenny Stavridi, Legal Department
Mr. Michael Stelakatos, Legal Department

HNDGS

Commodore A. Giokas, IRD
Col. G. Petkos, IRD
Col. L. Assimakis

Hellenic Navy

Capt. A. Krimiotis, G2

Hellenic Air Force
Col. I. Kontogiannis, 115th CW (NOTE: Since the JC,
Kontogiannis has been promoted to Brigadier.)
Lt. Col. A. Oglanis, C5/III
Ms. Konstantina Vlachogianni, Civil Engineer, C5/III
CWO A. Renieris, 115th CW
RIES