SAAKASHVILI PROMISES NATO SYG TO LIFT STATE OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L USNATO 000605 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/14/2017 TAGS: PREL NATO GG SUBJECT: SAAKASHVILI PROMISES NATO SYG TO LIFT STATE OF EMERGENCY Classified By: Ambassador Victoria Nuland for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D) ¶1. (C) In his November 11 telephone conversation with Georgian President Saakashvili, NATO SYG Jaap de Hoop Scheffer urged him to lift Georgia,s state of emergency, restore Georgia,s media freedoms, and not "lose your friends." He said that Saakashvili had pledged to lift the state of emergency on November 15 or 16. ¶2. (C) De Hoop Scheffer also said that a subdued-sounding Saakashvili had claimed that Russia was moving additional forces and heavy weapons into Abkhazia and had predicted that Moscow would respond to international recognition of Kosovo's independence without a new UN Security Council Resolution by recognizing Abkhazia's independence and backing it up militarily. Saakashvili saw a "strong Russian hand" in the demonstrations that erupted in Tbilisi November 7. The SYG urged him to provide evidence of Russian complicity if he had it; assertions alone would not persuade Allies. ¶3. (C) The Romanian NATO Ambassador and several other PermReps responded to the SYG's November 13 briefing on his phone call by reporting that they had just returned from a GMF sponsored visit to Tbilisi where they had made similar points to Saakashvili. NULAND