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