UKRAINE: MILITARY EXERCISE LEGISLATION PASSES, SEA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KYIV 001425

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/06/2017
TAGS: MARR MOPS MASS PREL PGOV UP
SUBJECT: UKRAINE: MILITARY EXERCISE LEGISLATION PASSES, SEA
BREEZE ON THE HORIZON

Classified By: Ambassador, reason 1.4 (b,d)


1. (C) Summary and Comment: President Yushchenko signed the
annual military exercise authorization bill June 6 and Rada
(parliament) passage on May 29. Despite support from PM
Yanukovych and most of the Party of Regions (the Rada's
largest faction),Socialist and Communist party opposition
remains, and protests are scheduled for the week of June 11
in Odesa. With the passage of the legislation, Ukraine is
now able to host the SEA BREEZE 2007 Exercise scheduled for
July 9-22, as well as RAPID TRIDENT 2007, and is taking steps
to ensure adequate force protection for participants. Post
is working on force protection planning in coordination with
the Ukrainian Government and recommends full participation by
U.S. forces in the planned activities now that the crucial
authorization hurdle has been resolved. End Summary and
Comment.

International Military Exercise Bill Signed
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2. (U) The Rada (parliament) had initially passed the 2007
annual military exercise authorization bill April 6, but
re-endorsed it May 29 with opposition support as a result
of the May 27 agreement between Yushchenko, PM Yanukovych,
and Speaker Moroz designed to end the political impasse and
clear the way for preterm elections September 30. The
bill, signed into law by President Yushchenko on June 6,
includes a number of bilateral and multilateral military
activities, including: Ukrainian-Russian air defense
training; Ukrainian-Belgian tactical exercises; RAPID
TRIDENT 2007; COMBINED EFFORT 2007; and SEA BREEZE 2007.
The delayed approval in 2006 of the authorization bill
created legal ambiguity which contributed to the
politically-motivated protests in Feodosia in May-June 2006
against SEA BREEZE 2006. The signing of the 2007
authorization allows planners to move forward with SEA
BREEZE 2007, scheduled for July 9-22.

SEA BREEZE Supported by Most, but Fringe Opposition Remains
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3. (SBU) Mainstream political and defense figures have
always supported the exercise agenda, including SEA BREEZE,
but some fringe political elements, along with the
Communist Party and some Socialists, have remained
opposed. Early in 2007, PM Yanukovych endorsed the entire
exercise agenda noting its importance to the development of
the Ukrainian armed forces; PM adviser Gryshchenko told
Ambassador June 7 that Yanukovych continues to support the
exercise and would not do anything to prevent preparations
or implementation of SEA BREEZE 07 (note: MPs from
Yanukovych's Regions Party participated in the anti-NATO
protests against SEA BREEZE 06 in Fedosia. End note).
Gryshchenko noted that Nataliya Vitrenko, leader of the
extremist Progressive Socialists, would certainly use the
exercise to her own political advantage (by organizing
protests),but that should not stop the exercise from going
forward.


4. (SBU) Defense Minister Hrytsenko and Chief of the
General Staff Kirichenko told the Ambassador that they
strongly supported Ukraine hosting and fully participating
in the exercise. Kirichenko has personally traveled to
Mykolaev and Odesa on multiple occasions in recent months
to discuss about the exercise with local officials (both
elected and security services representatives),including
actions required to ensure successful conduct of the
exercise. Deputy head of the Presidential Administration
Oleksandr Chaliy told the Ambassador that President
Yushchenko was also fully on board with the exercise and
was ready to issue a statement about the importance of the
exercise taking place.

Protests Planned
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5. (U) As predicted by Gryshchenko, Progressive Socialist
leader Vitrenko, whose party helped lead the 2006 Feodosia
protests and vowed to oppose any NATO-related activity in
Ukraine, has already expressed dissent, declaring that she
will actively opposed SEA BREEZE 07. Separately, the

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Communist Party and the Union of Orthodox Believers (UOB)
announced plans to rally against the exercise in Odesa
during the week of June 11. UOB head Valeriy Kaurov
indicated that protests in Kyiv would follow unless the
exercise format were changed to headquarters maneuvers and
NATO vessels were kept away from Odesa.


6. (C) Recent pre-planning conferences for SEA BREEZE
indicated that the GOU is far better prepared for force
protection this year. The Security Service of Ukraine
(SBU),the Ministry of Interior (MOI),and Ministry of
Defense (MOD) all participated in the planning conferences,
and a force protection plan has been drafted -- active
planning and multi-agency participation not seen at any
time during SEA BREEZE 2006

Post Recommendation: SEA BREEZE and RAPID TRIDENT a Go
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7. (C) Post anticipates that this year's SEA BREEZE exercise
will attract a small number of protesters, consistent with
past rallies against NATO training exercises. However, the
adoption of the legislation and strong support from both the
President and the Prime Minister demonstrates Ukraine's
desire and intention to proceed with the exercises.
Furthermore, we have been pleased with the steps taken by the
GOU to increase force protection capability, which Post will
monitor and encourage. Post strongly recommends moving
forward with planning and execution of the land and maritime
phases of SEA BREEZE 2007 as well as exercise RAPID TRIDENT

2007.



8. (U) Visit Embassy Kyiv's classified website:
www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/kiev.
Taylor