Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07BRUSSELS2667
2007-08-22 15:54:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
USEU Brussels
Cable title:  

U.S.- EUROPEAN UNION - RUSSIA TRILATERAL

Tags:  PTER KCRM PREL SNAR EU RU UN 
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VZCZCXRO7265
PP RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLZ RUEHROV
DE RUEHBS #2667/01 2341554
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 221554Z AUG 07
FM USEU BRUSSELS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PRIORITY
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL PRIORITY
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/FBI WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEAHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 BRUSSELS 002667 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR INL/FO, S/CT, L/LEI, INL/PC, INL/AAE, EUR/ERA;
JUSTICE FOR CRIMINAL DIVISION, OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL
AFFAIRS
HOMELAND SECURITY FOR OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER KCRM PREL SNAR EU RU UN
SUBJECT: U.S.- EUROPEAN UNION - RUSSIA TRILATERAL
HIGH-LEVEL WORKING GROUP MEETING IN BRUSSELS

REF: A. MCANULTY-VERVILLE/KELLER/PROPP E-MAIL OF JULY 31

B. LOONELA-MCANULTY E-MAIL OF JULY 24

C. LOONELA-MCANULTY E-MAIL OF JULY 12

D. MCANULTY-PROPP/CLINE E-MAIL OF JULY 6

E. BUSS-MCANULTY/CONWAY E-MAIL OF JULY 4

F. OLSON-MCANULTY E-MAIL OF JUNE 21

G. KELLER-MCANULTY E-MAIL MESSAGE OF JUNE 21

H. ANGHA/MATANO-MCANULTY E-MAIL OF JUNE 20

-------
SUMMARY
-------

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 BRUSSELS 002667

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR INL/FO, S/CT, L/LEI, INL/PC, INL/AAE, EUR/ERA;
JUSTICE FOR CRIMINAL DIVISION, OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL
AFFAIRS
HOMELAND SECURITY FOR OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER KCRM PREL SNAR EU RU UN
SUBJECT: U.S.- EUROPEAN UNION - RUSSIA TRILATERAL
HIGH-LEVEL WORKING GROUP MEETING IN BRUSSELS

REF: A. MCANULTY-VERVILLE/KELLER/PROPP E-MAIL OF JULY 31

B. LOONELA-MCANULTY E-MAIL OF JULY 24

C. LOONELA-MCANULTY E-MAIL OF JULY 12

D. MCANULTY-PROPP/CLINE E-MAIL OF JULY 6

E. BUSS-MCANULTY/CONWAY E-MAIL OF JULY 4

F. OLSON-MCANULTY E-MAIL OF JUNE 21

G. KELLER-MCANULTY E-MAIL MESSAGE OF JUNE 21

H. ANGHA/MATANO-MCANULTY E-MAIL OF JUNE 20

--------------
SUMMARY
--------------


1. (U) A meeting of the United States - European Union (EU) -
Russia Trilateral High Level Working Group on terrorism
convened June 22 in fulfillment of a commitment made at the
U.S.- EU - Russia Trilateral Ministerial Meeting in Berlin on
April 4. Participants expressed support for the work of the
Ad Hoc Committee on the United Nations (UN) Comprehensive
Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) in New York in
developing a definition of terrorism, while acknowledging
that parties had not yet agreed on the scope of the
Convention itself. Participants also agreed that the
proposed work of the Trilateral High Level Working Group
duplicated work already covered satisfactorily by other
multilateral fora and agreed, therefore, that no future
meetings of this group would be necessary. After
coordination with both the U.S. and Russia, EU officials
disseminated the texts of "agreed final minutes" from the
meeting on July 24. In this telegram, we include a summary
of the discussions at the meeting as well as the verbatim
text of the official "minutes" prepared and agreed upon
subsequent to the meeting. END SUMMARY.

--------------
TRILATERAL HIGH LEVEL WORKING GROUP
--------------


2. (U) In fulfillment of a commitment made at the April 4
Trilateral Ministerial Meeting in Berlin, representatives of
the U.S., EU, and Russia met June 22 in Brussels as a
"Trilateral High Level Working Group" to discuss terrorism
issues. European Commission Director General for Justice,

Freedom, and Security Jonathan Faull welcomed participants to
the meeting and expressed a desire to avoid duplicating
activities of other multilateral fora. He noted that the UN
had actively discussed the definition of terrorism in the
Sixth Committee as part of efforts to negotiate the UN CCIT.
He understood that negotiators from the EU, U.S., and Russia,
among others, had provisionally agreed on the definition of
terrorism in article two of the proposed convention, but that
differences remained over the scope of the convention. He
proposed that the group report to their justice and interior
Ministers that they agreed on this common definition of
terrorism and reaffirmed their commitment towards prompt
conclusion of negotiations for the CCIT.

3, (U) Russian Presidential Directorate Deputy Head for
Promotion of Constitutional Rights Sergey Gerasimov agreed
with Faull's remarks, asserting that discussions at the UN
had continued for over ten years. He suggested that Russia,
the EU, and the U.S. follow up with concrete actions. U.S.
Mission International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs
(INL) Counselor agreed with Faull's goal of avoiding
duplication of work in other fora. He suggested modifying
Faull's proposal slightly to express support for the work of
the CCIT negotiations in developing the definition of
terrorism and working towards agreement on the scope. German
Interior Ministry Counter-Terrorism Director Gerhard
Schindler expressed support for the CCIT's work and suggested
that participants consider counter-terrorism activities that
would be required after adoption of the Convention. He
listed some practical issues to consider, including the
length of time terrorists should be held after arrest, types
of evidence to be provided at trials, whether such evidence
should conform with international or national law, and
whether an obligation existed for countries to share
information on terrorist activities. Portuguese Permanent

BRUSSELS 00002667 002 OF 007


Representation Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Counselor Maria
Constanca agreed with the Commission's proposal, while
Gerasimov seconded Germany's suggestion to look at practical
follow-on measures. Faull indicated that the Commission
would prepare and circulate a "minute" for presentation to
Ministers affirming that participants had no problem with the
definition of "terrorism" itself but only with the scope of
the definition as discussed at the CCIT negotiations in New
York.


4. (U) Faull also proposed that participants indicate that
the trilateral High Level Working Group should not duplicate
work done satisfactorily within the UN, Group of Eight (G-8),
or other multilateral fora. Mission INL Counselor agreed
with this approach, adding that he would need to refer the
draft "minutes" to officials in Washington for comment and
approval. Noting that the issue may be one of semantics, he
expressed doubt that trilateral Working Group participants
could state that they "fully agreed" with the definition of
terrorism, while differences remained over the scope of the
convention. Accordingly, he proposed expressing support for
the work of the CCIT negotiators, but cautioned against
"second-guessing" that group's decisions or work.


5. (U) Faull suggested looking as well at potential gaps that
may exist in discussing terrorism at multilateral fora. He
noted that a great deal of work was underway within the
Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD),
UN, and G-8 on terrorism issues. Referring to a paper that
the Russian side had just circulated at the start of the
Working Group meeting, he noted he could not identify any
"burning" issues not already discussed elsewhere. He
remained open to suggestions from others on issues for which
the Working Group could "add value" to multilateral
discussions. Schindler agreed, noting that other
multilateral fora already discussed all significant terrorism
issues. He suggested that future EU presidencies might wish
to consider discussion of use of the Internet by terrorists
and of radicalization and recruitment. Speaking for the
Portuguese Presidency, Constanca remarked that Russia and the
U.S. already productively discussed terrorism issues with the
EU in various fora, including during "Troika",
counter-terrorism, counter-drug, and "road map" meetings.
She saw no need to duplicate such efforts. For his part,
Geramisov argued for continued Working Group meetings, which,
he said, could become the "locomotive" for the work of
Russia, the EU, and the US on internal security matters and
would help Ministers prepare for their in-depth discussions
of such issues.


6. (U) Faull noted that the Commission remained the "humble
servant" of the EU Member States and that the Presidency of
the Council would have to decide on behalf of the EU whether
to convene future meetings of the Working Group.
Synthesizing the discussion, he proposed that a second
"minute" indicate that participants agreed that other
international fora already addressed terrorism issues in a
satisfactory way and that they could not justify future
meetings of this Trilateral High Level Working Group under
such circumstances. Gerasimov averred that a report would be
necessary for the Ministers and that the group had met as
agreed at the Ministerial meeting in Berlin. He acknowledged
that another meeting of the High Level Working Group would
not be necessary before the next trilateral Ministerial
Meeting. Nonetheless, he encouraged establishment of an
"experts group," in lieu of a high level working group, to
identify practical issues for discussion by the Ministers.
Speaking on behalf of the Slovenia Presidency (which will
begin in January 2008),Slovenia Permanent Representation
official Jana Kulevska said she shared the Portuguese
position, noting that her Government was considering the idea
of convening a trilateral Ministerial Meeting, for which
preparations could occur during "ad hoc" sessions. Schindler
suggested that the G-8 Counter-Terrorism Practitioners Group
might be an appropriate forum for discussing Russia's
proposals.


7. (U) Faull summed up the discussions by noting that the

BRUSSELS 00002667 003 OF 007


Slovenian Presidency would consider convening a trilateral
Ministerial Meeting, for which the Ministers, of course,
would receive adequate preparation. The EU, he noted, was
already working within the G-8 and at separate bilateral
discussions with the U.S. and Russia on use of the Internet
by terrorists and on radicalization and recruitment.
Discussions of these important issues would continue at the
experts level, but he saw no need for creating a new forum.
He promised to prepare minutes to circulate to others.
Gerasimov expressed appreciation for the meeting, noting
unanimity on the first point regarding the definition of
terrorism. He said he would not insist on establishing an
additional group that would duplicate work done at other
fora.

--------------
AGREED MINUTES
--------------


8. (U) In early July, the Commission circulated draft
minutes. On July 24, after receiving comments from both the
U.S. and Russian sides, the Commission provided the final
agreed minutes from the meeting. The verbatim text of these
minutes, including two annexes, (forwarded earlier to
Washington via electronic-mail -- Ref A) follows:

(Begin Text of Final Agreed Minutes)

Trilateral High Level Working Group Between the EU, US and
Russia
22 June 2007 in Brussels

- Summary minutes of the meeting

-- l. Definition of terrorism

All parties agreed to the general framework: Discussions in
UN at the Sixth Committee and at the Ad Hoc Committee on the
UN Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT)
have been going on since 1996. Article 2 of the
Coordinator's text, containing the definition of terrorism
(offence provisions),has been provisionally agreed already
for several years and the EU, Russia and the US have agreed
to it among other UN Member States. The problems at the UN
with the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism
are by now not on the definition of terrorism, but rather on
the scope of the Convention itself.

Since the CCIT negotiations are handled by Permanent Missions
in New York with support from capitals, all three sides
agreed that it would be counter productive to reopen
previously- settled issues. The CCIT should continue to be
dealt with by the Permanent Missions in New York in the
framework of the UN 6th Committee.

It was suggested to draw the attention of the Permanent
Representations in New York to the possible measures of
implementation once the Convention is adopted.

All three parties reconfirmed their shared commitment to
supporting the discussions at the UN. They have a common
desire to conclude the Comprehensive Convention swiftly, and
they decided to continue work on convincing other states of
the utility of such a Convention.

-- 2. Possible topics for further discussion

The starting point for the discussion was that the high level
working group should not duplicate work that is already done
satisfactorily elsewhere -- at UN, G8 or bilateral meetings.
All parties agreed on this basic premise.

All subjects, i.e. counter terrorism, drugs, border security
that have come up in discussion are part of EU's efficient
existing dialogue with US and Russia be it bilaterally or in
multilateral forums, e.g. G8, UN, FATF, Paris Pact. All
sides reiterated their full commitment to strengthening the
dialogue between the three strategic partners, but without

BRUSSELS 00002667 004 OF 007


duplicating existing cooperation frameworks. Internet,
Radicalization and Recruitment and a list of other topics
circulated by Russia (attached) were mentioned as worthy
discussion items, but those are all already addressed also at
ministerial level in existing formats.

Therefore the added value of the high level working group
seemed very limited to the parties and there is no need for
further meetings of the high level working group in
trilateral format.

A possible future Ministerial meeting could be prepared ad
hoc by officials drawing on discussions in the other forums
so that Ministers can have fruitful discussions.

Slovenia informed partners of their considerations to call a
Ministerial meeting during their Presidency in the first half
of 2008. Officials from EU, US and Russia will continue to
see each other and discuss all related topics at various
configurations during the upcoming Presidency.

Annexes:
List of participants
List of Russian proposals


- Trilateral High Level Working Group between the EU, US and
Russia
22 June 10.00
Berlaymont building, Jean Monnet room

List of Participants

Germany

Gerhard Schindler, Director for Counter-Terrorism, Ministry
of Interior
Andrea Schumacher, Head of Division for Counter-Terrorism:
International co-operation, Ministry of Interior
Martina Wenske, Permanent Representation
Ivo Thiemrodt
Wolf Plesmann, Permanent Representation

Portugal

Maria Constanca de Sousa, Permanent Representation
Mario Fernandes, Presidency Coordinator, Ministry of Justice
Paulo Cunha Alves, Permanent Representation

Slovenia

Jana Kulevska, Permanent Representation

European Commission

Jonathan Faull, Director General DG JLS
Heike Buss, Acing Head of Unit for External Relations, DG JLS
Vivian Loonela, Unit for External Relations, DG JLS
Caroline Hagar, Unit for coordination of anti-drugs policy,
DG JLS
Efthymios Costopoulos, Unit for Security Policy, DG RELEX
Nora Rolle, Unit for US and Canada, DG Relex

Council Secretariat

Ivan Bizjak, Director General JHA
Gilles De Kerchove, Director
Ivica Stehlikova, Office of the CT Coordinator
Marek Grela, Director
Francesco Fini, Counter Terrorism team responsible for UN
affairs

US

James P. McAnulty, Mission Counselor for International
Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL) Affairs
Kathleen Conway, Mission Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
Attache

BRUSSELS 00002667 005 OF 007


Thomas A. Scarantino, Mission Drug Enforcement Administration
(DEA) Assistant Regional Director.
Erin Barclay, Asian, African, and European Programs (INL/AAE)
Office Director, International Narcotics and Law Enforcement
Affairs Bureau, U.S. Department of State

Russia

Administration of the President of the Russian Federation
Sergey Gerasimov, Deputy Head of the Presidential Directorate
of the Russian Federation for the Promotion of Constitutional
Rights

Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Nikolay Kornchunov Head of Unit, European Cooperation
Department
Mikhail Shurgalin, Head of Unit, Department on New Challenges
and Threats
Alexander Zhurov, Second secretary, European Cooperation
Department

Federal Security Service
Victor Orlov, Head of Directorate, National Antiterrorist
Committee
Vasiliy Letunovskiy, Head of Directorate, Border Guards
Service
Sergey Gerasimenkov, Expert, National Antiterrorist Committee

Ministry of Interior
Sergey Galdkin, Head of International Cooperation Directorate
Vladimir Didenko, Deputy Head of Directorate

Federal Drugs Control Service
Igor Smirnov, Deputy Head of International Cooperation
Directorate
Dmitriy Chernyshev, Senior Inspector

Russian Mission to the EC
Nikolay Revenko, Deputy Head of the Mission
Alexander Skoryukov, Senior Counsellor
Anatoliy Didenko, Counsellor
Alexander Goloshapov, Counsellor
Viacheslav Chernichenko, First Secretary
Alexey Budarev First Secretary

- Russian Proposals on Trilateral Cooperation Between Russia,
EU and USA in the Area of Internal Security

- I. Combating Terrorism

-- 1. To agree a set of measures to converge positions of
the states, including Muslim countries, on the international
legal definition of terrorism.

-- 2. To establish the exchange of information on the best
practices in raising information awareness about malignancy
of ideas of terrorism.

-- 3. To develop proposals on coordination of the parties'
activities to prevent use of Internet as a means of promoting
the ideology and practices of terrorism.

-- 4. To establish the exchange of information about
educational institutions (both legal and illegal) in Islamist
countries, that are involved in training of radical religious
ministers as well as to establish the exchange of data on the
persons who passed the training at these institutions.

-- 5. To establish the exchange of information on activities
carried out by Islamist radicals under the cover of
non-governmental organizations.

-- 6. To sum up the experiences in protecting the critical
infrastructure, to arrange a conference on this issue with
participation of competent agencies of the parties.

-- 7. To use the international counter-terrorism database
which is being set up at the National Antiterrorist Committee

BRUSSELS 00002667 006 OF 007


(NAC) of Russia to store information on the results of joint
antiterrorist activities and to ensure access to this
database for the competent agencies of the parties (the
database is due to be ready by September 2007; its concept
and invitations to join have been sent out to 72 countries).
To study other possibilities to take stock of results of the
joint work.

-- 8. To establish the exchange of information, including
that obtained with support of private businesses, on
companies (legal entities) involved in or suspected of
contacts with criminal groups, including the information

- II. Fighting Against Drugs

-- 1. To develop proposals on coordination of activities
related to the training of the law enforcement personnel of
Afghanistan and Central Asian states, including the
activities carried out within the current projects by UNODC,
UN, EU and NATO-Russia Council.

-- 2. To consider the possibility and the ways to ensure
participation of Afghan law enforcement representatives in
international police operations to prevent trafficking of
Afghan drugs and their precursors, including in the operation
"Kanal" (Channel).

-- 3. To develop proposals about possible joint projects to
strengthen the international system of monitoring precursors
used for production of drugs and psychotropic agents,
including projects to detect and suppress illegal channels of
their trafficking to Afghanistan.

-- 4. To make proposals about the forms to ensure
involvement of financial intelligence agencies in
international police operations to detect funding sources of
the Afghan drug trafficking businesses.

-- 5. To develop a joint system of monitoring passenger
traffic and cargo shipments to prevent transit and smuggling
of drugs and precursors primarily to and from Central Asia.

-- 6. To consider the possibility of establishing a working
group of experts to address the issue of combating the drug
threat.

- III. Cooperation of Border and Migration Services

-- 1. To prepare proposals for developing common approaches
and models for evaluation of risks and threats in the area of
border protection for the period of 2007-2010.

-- During the first stage (2007-2008) to jointly develop and
test the model for addressing threats related to the
transportation of drugs from Afghanistan.

-- 2. To ensure exchange of information about experiences in
training border guard personnel to include arranging joint
seminars to exchange best practices in border protection.

-- 3. To develop proposals on the procedure for the exchange
of data on lost and stolen passports.

(End of Text of Final Agreed Minutes)

--------------
COMMENT
--------------


9. (SBU) Before the meeting convened, the U.S. and EU sides
agreed that the High Level Trilateral Working Group should
meet only briefly to address the definition of terrorism,
already under discussion by experts in New York, and that the
group should not convene again, unless additional useful work
not addressed by other multilateral fora could be identified.
In this way, the U.S. and EU delegations headed off efforts
by the Russian side (whose delegation included 17 officials)
to establish yet another senior multilateral group to discuss

BRUSSELS 00002667 007 OF 007


terrorism. In an apparent rarity for such fora, this senior
working group met only once, after which participants
(albeit, with some reluctance from one party) agreed to
disband. Mission expresses appreciation for the valuable
background and talking points provided by Washington
officials before the meeting, which contributed to this
successful outcome. END COMMENT.


MURRAY
.