CYPRUS WELCOMES GI INVITATION, WILL ATTEND

UNCLAS NICOSIA 000411

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR T (KATSAPIS),ISN (GRANT),EUR/SE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER PARM PREL CY
SUBJECT: CYPRUS WELCOMES GI INVITATION, WILL ATTEND
KAZAKHSTAN MEETING

REF: A. SECSTATE 62145


B. SECSTATE 58978


1. (SBU) In response to Ref A, the Embassy May 10 delivered
the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism (GI)
"invitation" to Marios Kountarides, the Cypriot Foreign
Ministry's deputy chief for multilateral affairs. In his
remarks, PolChief welcomed Cyprus as a new GI partner nation
and voiced the U.S. Government's hope that the RoC
participate actively in and contribute to the Initiative. In
GI discussions, partner nations must focus on the
Initiative's core function of countering the grave threat of
nuclear terrorism, however, and not allow "outside political
disputes" to compromise effectiveness. Embassy Ankara was
passing a similar message to Turkish interlocutors, he added.
Last, PolChief raised the upcoming meeting of GI partner
nations in Astana, Kazakhstan (Ref B),and pressed for
high-level MFA attendance.


2. (SBU) Kountarides was expecting our GI message, since
Foreign Minister Yiorgos Lillikas earlier had expressed
Cyprus's intention to join via letters to the Secretary and
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The government would
engage wholeheartedly in this initiative, he promised,
acknowledging the security threat that GI hoped to reduce.
Kountarides skirted around our admonition regarding "outside
political disputes," however. Regarding the Astana meeting,
he inquired whether there would be a formal welcoming
ceremony for new members, explaining that such an event would
mandate a higher-level delegation. (Note: We since have
learned that there will be recognition for incoming partner
nations, and transmitted this information to the MFA.)


3. (SBU) Before visiting Kountarides, PolChief contacted
Russian Embassy DCM Alexander Shcherbakov regarding a
possible joint demarche. A scheduling conflict prevented
Shcherbakov from joining. On May 11, however, the Russian
diplomat delivered the GI invitation to Kountarides's boss,
Multilateral Affairs chief Pantias Eliades. In a follow-up
meeting with PolChief, Shcherbakov claimed that he, too, had
urged the MFA not to allow CyProb friction with Turkey to
seep into GI discussions. Eliades was similarly
non-committal in his response to the Russian.


4. (U) Embassy Nicosia POC information for the Global
Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism:

Macris, Gregory
Chief, Political Section
357-22-393524 (office)
357-99-424355 (cell)
357-22-393467 (fax)
macrisgp@state.gov (unclass email)
macrisgp@state.sgov.gov (classified email)

Alternate POC is Political Officer Greg Stein: 357-22-3475,
steings@state.gov, steings@state.sgov.gov


5. (U) Host Nation POC information:

Kountarides, Marios
Deputy Chief of Multilateral Affairs, Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus
357-22-401151 (office)
357-22-664807 (shared fax)
mkountourides@mfa.gov.cy
SCHLICHER