OSCE PROJECTS GET AXED DUE TO EU SANCTIONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L TASHKENT 001051 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR SCA/CEN E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/01/2017 TAGS: OSCE PREL PGOV EU UZ SUBJECT: OSCE PROJECTS GET AXED DUE TO EU SANCTIONS REF: A. TASHKENT 1029 ¶B. TASHKENT 994 Classified By: CLASSIFIED BY CDA BRAD HANSON FOR REASONS 1.4 (B, D). ¶1. (C) OSCE Ambassador Jenca, on May 31, told Charge he was called in by Foreign Minister Norov on May 29 to express the GOU,s dissatisfaction with the EU,s May 14 sanctions decision (Ref A). Norov explained to Jenca that since the OSCE and EU were &like-minded8 organizations and cooperated closely together, there were consequences. He told Jenca that while the OSCE could continue to implement the projects approved to date, those projects pending a GOU decision and those projects submitted in the near future would be rejected. A month prior to the sanctions decision, President Karimov, on April 12, told the visiting OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Miguel Angel Moratinos, that the OSCE would soon receive a positive answer on the 2007 projects (Ref B). ¶2. (C) Norov said the counter-terrorism conference, which the OSCE has been trying to hold for over a year, was officially "cancelled." The MFA had previously told Jenca in mid-May that it was "postponed." Jenca explained that Norov made it clear that the OSCE was free to hold a counterterrorism conference elsewhere. As the OSCE Secretary General was planning to come to Tashkent to inaugurate the conference, Jenca asked Norov about his possible visit, nevertheless. Norov responded that it was "not advisable" for the OSCE to submit a request for the visit at this time. ¶3. (C) To the Charge, Jenca tried to spin positively this turn of events, saying the situation was worse this time last year. He added, at least the OSCE still was operating in Uzbekistan, and actually was implementing more projects than before. (Note: This is not entirely correct, as the OSCE is implementing projects for 2007 in addition to those slated for 2006, but delayed by the MFA. Due to an anticipated decrease in workload, Jenca said he will have to let go two local staff, as he cannot justify employing them. ¶4. Comment: The Uzbek-OSCE relationship has slipped back to where it was this time last year: hostile. As in 2006, the Uzbeks are officially postponing conferences, in effect canceling them, advising the OSCE that it is not a good time to submit requests for visits (as the GOU twice told the U.S. Ambassador to the OSCE),and not approving projects. Last year the GOU simply did not respond to certain project proposals; this year the GOU has told the OSCE to not even bother submitting proposals, in the near future, at least. This downturn in relations makes it very unlikely the GOU will request election observation assistance from the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights for the expected December 23 presidential election. HANSON