EUR DAS KRAMER'S MESSAGE RESOUNDS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MINSK 000437

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KPAO OEXC SCUL PREL BO
SUBJECT: EUR DAS KRAMER'S MESSAGE RESOUNDS
THROUGHOUT BELARUSIAN MEDIA

Summary
--------------


1. (SBU) Local media coverage of DAS Kramer's
recent visit to Minsk reflected primarily
straightforward and opinion-free reporting. A bit of
vituperation was thrown in by Belarusian State TV,
which commented in a manner consistent with its usual
anti-American sentiment. A lively element of public
discussion could be found on local Internet forums,
with the majority of contributors presenting rather
sober commentary on the poor state of our bilateral
relations. End summary.

Message Heard Loud and Clear
--------------


2. (SBU) Coverage of the April 23-25 visit appeared
as early as the same day of the concluding press
event and continues to appear because of major
independents' infrequent printing schedules and a
recently observed national holiday in Belarus. As is
quite typical of Belarusian non-state press, DAS
Kramer's statements were conveyed accurately, with
his remarks on key issues presented in their entirety
or in block quotes. Some of his comments, though,
were covered more extensively than others. The press
was very interested in details of Mr. Kramer's
unscheduled meeting with Presidential Administration
Deputy Head Natalya Petkevich, speculating that
Petkevich?s initiative to call the meeting
demonstrated the regime?s willingness to make
necessary political reforms. This assumption was
widely reflected in both the headlines and articles
on DAS Kramer's visit, some even implying that "hush-
hush" negotiations had taken place.


3. (SBU) Journalists were equally interested in
learning what measures the United States could take
to acknowledge the potentially positive steps by
Belarusian authorities or, on the other hand,
penalize them for further crackdown on civil society
and opposition. DAS Kramer's answers outlining the
two paths that are open for Belarusian authorities to
take and spelling out the demands that the U.S.
Government sees as a pre-requisite for positive steps
on its part were, again, conveyed in the clearest
terms by domestic independent media, oftentimes word
for word. One independent weekly used the
opportunity to make a broader, even sarcastic,
statement about Belarusian foreign policy. Major
quotes from independent media sources follow below.


4. (U) Independent analytical weekly BELGAZETA
(rightist, circulation 22,000) ran the article 'For a
Cup of Coffee' (unsigned) : "...The Department of
State still puts forward certain demands and pledges
some benefits should they be fulfilled. The only
novelty in the U.S.-Belarus relations is the informal
meeting with Natalya Petkevich which can possibly
demonstrate that Belarus is prepared if not to
fulfill, but to listen to those demands at
least...But when a U.S. official is issued a visa
previously denied to him, it does not spell a change
in policy with regard to the West. And the meeting
with this official at a cafe at the Belarusian
initiative is by no means flirting with the U.S."


5. (SBU) The Belarusian edition of the popular
Russian tabloid KOMSOMOLSKAYA PRAVDA (published five
days a week, circulation 50,000) placed on its front
page a photograph of DAS Kramer in juxtaposition to a
photograph of Petkevich. The text in between the two
pictures says, "What did the deputy head of the
presidential administration and the U.S. official
talk about." The article by Oleg Ulevich on page 3
has "Natalya Petkevich Invited David Kramer to Lunch"
as the title. The author lists the U.S. Government
demands as presented by DAS Kramer: release of all
political prisoners, dropping charges against all
others, allowing Chernobylskiy Shlyakh ["Chernobyl
Path" demonstration, held on April 26 each year]
rally to take place peacefully, and the Congress of
Democratic Forces to convene. Ulevich concludes by
mentioning that Kramer met with economic and
political scientists, business people, students and
opposition members, also saying that he refused to
speak with state press, "not seeing them as
responsible media."


MINSK 00000437 002 OF 003



6. (U) Independent weekly SVOBODNIYE NOVOSTI PLUS
(rightist, circulation 17,000) ran the unsigned
article "Message from Washington, which emphasized
that "the U.S. Government was not using all ways to
put pressure on Belarusian authorities which are
provided for in the Belarus Democracy Re-
Authorization Act."


7. (U) Internationally known Belarusian NGO Charter
'97 chose to stress in its report that the USG takes
specific actions in fulfillment of its verbal
warnings to the government of Belarus, quoting DAS
Kramer saying that "I hope the government understands
my words last year were not empty threats. We've
been hearing rhetorical statements about improving
relations with the West for over several months. But
I don't think we've seen much evidence to suggest
that there were specific steps to back that
rhetoric." (The report in English can be found at
http://charter97.org/eng/news/2007/04/25/kram er.)


8. (U) Other sources primarily quote from DAS Kramer
without emphasizing any part of his message in
particular. Internet sources, such as naviny.by and
tut.by, took the message to younger audiences, who do
not rely on print outlets as the primary source of
their information.

Not Quite Right
--------------


9. (U) Major independent weekly BELORUSY I RYNOK
(rightist, circulation 12,000, serious analytical)
runs on page 4, cont'd page 5, the article "No
Agreement Reached Yet" by Pavel Bykovskiy. The
author quotes extensively from David Kramer's press
availability on April 25. Meeting with government
officials, members of opposition and representatives
of civil society, students, families of political
prisoners is "a typical schedule for Western
diplomats. One meeting, though, is of particular
interest. It took place at the Belarusian initiative
and was not on the U.S. envoy's schedule. Deputy
Head of the Presidential Administration Natalya
Petkevich invited the U.S. visitor to a cafe...David
Kramer asked the journalists not to start jumping at
conclusions based on the fact that such a meeting
took place." Narrating the U.S. Government position
on what it would be prepared to do should Belarus
concur with the demands it puts forward, Bykovskiy
attributes to DAS Kramer what may be taken as a
promise to lift the visa ban: 'The diplomat also said
that should the U.S. demands be met, the list of
people who are banned from entry in the United States
may be reviewed and, possibly, lifted altogether.'

Wait a Minute
--------------


10. (U) In one of its evening PANARAMA news shows,
Belarusian State TV called David Kramer "one of the
State Department's clerks," and his statement "a
straightforward threat to Belarus." The reporter
added that "Mr. Kramer's comment could have been
ignored, if it did not involve an element of coarse
blackmail." He continued, adding "According to
Kramer, if Belarus doesn't live up to U.S.
expectations, America will not hesitate to increase
pressure and economic sanctions against Belarusian
exporters." Quoting directly from DAS Kramer, he
added "If they think that the situation cannot get
worse, they are wrong," and concludes by opining that
"Kramer, perhaps, fondly believes that somebody in
Belarus would react to U.S. opinion. This is not the
first threat and it won't be the last."

Message Reached a Larger Audience Than Expected
-------------- --


11. (SBU) Given that April 26 marked a tragic date
for Belarus (the twenty-first anniversary of the
Chernobyl accident) and that the last week of April
was the time when Russia lost several personalities
of enormous social and political standing (Yeltsin,
Rostropovich, actor Kirill Lavrov; people who are
recognized by Belarusians as much as Russians due to
their shared Soviet history),the Embassy rates the
interest of the press in DAS Kramer's visit as quite
high. Some idea of public interest in the visit can
be gauged by the number of comments on local Internet

MINSK 00000437 003 OF 003


forums. As just one example, there were
approximately 20 comments to an announcement posted
on Internet resource tut.by prior to DAS Kramer's
visit. One particular user challenged the
significance of the visit, believing the level of the
envoy to be too low. "Who else could you reasonably
expect after the Belarusian military downed a
civilian balloon in 1995, killing two Americans,"
another forum user replied.

Moore