UKRAINE: GUAM AS A REGIONAL ORGANIZATION -- A TWO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KYIV 001324 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/30/2017 TAGS: PREL KDEM MARR RS AZ GG MD UP SUBJECT: UKRAINE: GUAM AS A REGIONAL ORGANIZATION -- A TWO YEAR PROCESS REF: KYIV 756 Classified By: Political Counselor Kent Logsdon for reasons 1.4(b,d) ¶1. (C) Summary: Executive Director of the GUAM Information Office Heorhiy Nazarov acknowledged that the impasse over scheduling early parliamentary elections had made it unlikely that the parliament (Rada) would vote on the GUAM Charter anytime soon. He said Ukraine's failure to ratify the GUAM charter would not affect ongoing efforts to establish the GUAM Secretariat in Kyiv or the June 18-19 GUAM Summit. Incoming GUAM Secretary General Chechelashvili would take up his duties in Kyiv in early June and could be accredited in Ukraine simply by presenting a diplomatic note from Georgia to the MFA Protocol Department. Although the permanent Secretariat premises would not be ready until the end of SIPDIS 2007, Chechelashvili's presence in Ukraine would speed the process of setting up the Secretariat and transforming GUAM into a regional organization. The Secretariat should be operational in September. Nazarov was noncommittal when we asked whether discussions about our future GUAM assistance projects should be conducted through the Secretariat or through the working groups, and noted that Azerbaijan is particularly reluctant to change. Nevertheless, Nazarov expects GUAM evolution towards a full-fledged operational regional organization to continue under Azerbaijan's presidency, but the process will most likely only be finalized once the Georgians take over the presidency in ¶2008. End Summary. ¶2. (U) We met with the Executive Director of the GUAM Information Office Heorhiy Nazarov and MFA Political Department GUAM desk officer Victor Ponomariov May 18 to discuss how the Ukrainian domestic political situation was affecting plans to establish the GUAM Secretariat in Kyiv and the June 18 GUAM Summit in Baku. We also wanted to determine if upcoming discussions regarding GUAM-related assistance projects should be conducted through the Secretariat or continue to be coordinated through the GUAM Working Groups, i.e., to what degree GUAM remains an association of countries versus a regional organization. Lack of Charter Ratification Will Not Affect Secretariat -------------- -------------- ¶3. (C) Nazarov said that the Rada's failure to approve the GUAM Charter would not affect plans to set up the Secretariat in Kyiv or plans for the GUAM Summit in Baku. He said the Charter was issued as a presidential decree and has legal force unless it is rejected by the Rada. Nazarov dismissed suggestions that the Summit be postponed because of charter ratification problems as "political speculation" and pointed out that it would take one or two months to "formalize" the Charter after the Rada passes it. Nazarov also said the text on GUAM Privileges and Immunities had been finalized and approved by 11 "central bodies of authority" that need to sign-off on the document, although the Ministries of Finance, Treasury, Communication, and Justice, and the State Customs Services still needed to endorse the agreement. Nazarov hinted that the hesitation was related to the current political struggle but was confident that they would sign soon. He also opined that since "the legal regime is not so restrictive" the Privileges and Immunities document could be signed at the Summit regardless of the actions of the three ministries and the Customs Services. GUAM SecGen Arriving by Early June, Summit On Track -------------- -------------- ¶4. (C) Nazarov said incoming GUAM Secretary General Valery Chechelashvili was expected to take up his duties in Kyiv in early June - prior to the Baku Summit. He opined that Chechelashvili's presence in Kyiv would help speed up the process of setting up the Secretariat and transforming GUAM into a regional organization. Chechelashvili and Secretariat staff from Azerbaijan and Moldova could be accredited in Ukraine by presenting a diplomatic note from their respective governments to the MFA Protocol Department. The Secretariat premises would not be remodeled and ready until the end of 2007, however. Nazarov was searching for temporary office space to house the Secretariat and expected it to start functioning by September after his formal transfer from MFA to GUAM and the arrival of an additional staff member from Azerbaijan. Timing of the Moldovan staff member's arrival was still unclear. (Note: Moldovan Embassy DCM Eugen Caras told us the Moldovan member of the GUAM secretariat would be a Moldovan diplomat currently assigned to the Moldovan Embassy in Ukraine. The individual was likely to retain Embassy-related, i.e., bilateral Moldova-Ukraine, duties. In an earlier conversation Chechelashvili told us that he is not in favor of this arrangement.) KYIV 00001324 002 OF 002 ¶5. (C) Nazarov said the preparations for the June 18-19 Summit were proceeding smoothly. Agreements on a budget of about $500,000, on Privileges and Immunities for Secretariat staff, and on joint cooperation in the field of nuclear and radiation security should be signed at the Summit. Nazarov also expected a Summit accord on international multi-modal transportation of goods among GUAM states. Minutes of the May 4-5 meeting of the Council of National Coordinators provided by Nazarov also indicate that a draft statement recognizing the 1932 - 1933 famine in Ukraine as an act of genocide and a protocol on cultural cooperation would also be agreed upon at the Summit. GUAM Transformation Might Take Two Years -------------- ¶6. (C) Nazarov was noncommittal when we asked him whether future discussions about U.S. assistance to GUAM should be conducted, as now, through the Working Groups in the relevant national capitals or through the Secretariat. He said Ukraine and Georgia would like to conduct future negotiations through the Secretariat, but Azerbaijan is uncomfortable with the change, and Moldova is "on the fence." Nazarov opined that this difference is indicative of the different levels of commitment among the four GUAM states. We pointed out that by definition the U.S. assistance to GUAM was for the organization and not technically a four-way coordinated bilateral program. We noted this would most likely be the view of both Japan and the EU, if the latter opted to engage the organization. Therefore, it was important operationally and politically that GUAM establish an effective mechanism for discussing cooperation on assistance, let alone other issues. Despite Azerbaijan's more limited vision of GUAM as a regional organization, Nazarov believed that under Azerbaijan's presidency the organization would continue to develop; but most likely GUAM would not take on the more robust character of a regional organization that Georgia and Ukraine hoped for until the 2008 Tblisi Summit and the completion of "road maps" with the U.S., Japan, and the EU. ¶7. (U) Visit Embassy Kyiv's classified website: www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/kiev. Taylor