GREEK GOVERNMENT'S PLANS FOR OCTOBER 22 GEORGIA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ATHENS 001463

SIPDIS

EEB/ODF; EUR/ACE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KMCA KCRS EAID EFIN PREL GR
SUBJECT: GREEK GOVERNMENT'S PLANS FOR OCTOBER 22 GEORGIA
DONORS' CONFERENCE

REF: A. SECSTATE 109212

B. ATHENS 1338

C. ATHENS 1288

D. ATHENS 1455

ATHENS 00001463 001.2 OF 002



1. (SBU) Summary. On October 16, the Embassy raised reftel
A points regarding the October 22 Georgia Donors' Conference
with the MFA and the head of Hellenic Aid. Both indicated
that while additional funding may potentially be forthcoming,
the GoG does not appear prepared to make a pledge during the
Brussels conference. Instead, the GoG plans to use its
attendance at next week's conference to better evaluate
Georgia's real assistance needs. The GoG remains committed
to showing its support for Georgia, but additional GoG
funding may fall victim to the financial crisis and resulting
Greek budgetary and political realities. End Summary.


2. (SBU) EconCouns and DepEconCouns inquired about the
donors' conference during a meeting with Ambassador
Mercourios Karafotias, the new Director General of Hellenic
Aid. Ambassador Karafotias indicated that he is likely to be
the GoG representative at next week's conference, but that
the GoG likely will not make a pledge at this time.
Recapping the 753,000 euros (see reftels B and C) in GoG
assistance provided to Georgia thus far, he emphasized that
the GoG remains committed to supporting the EU position on
Georgia's political integrity and sovereignty. Karafotias
claimed that while the GoG expects and is prepared to give
more assistance to Georgia, it does not at this time have
enough information on Georgia's specific needs to develop an
appropriate assistance package. DepEconCouns pointed to the
recently-concluded World Bank Joint Needs Assessment (JNA)
and outlined its findings, as well as the hope that EU member
states would be generous during the conference and try to
match the 500 million euros pledged by the European
Commission. Karafotias said that while he was not familiar
with the JNA, he expects that Georgia's specific needs will
be the focus of discussions at the donors' conference, after
which time, the GoG will consider what additional support to
provide. (Note: Following the meeting, we forwarded the JNA
to Karafotias and his staff.)


3. (SBU) Ambassador Karafotias went on to share two points
regarding further assistance to Georgia. First, he urged the
government of Georgia and the international community to
ensure that sufficient assistance resources enter South
Ossetia. Karafotias is concerned that if the Georgian
government does not allow assistance to enter South Ossetia
unhindered from Georgian territory, then the only other
alternative would be for assistance to have to go through
Russia. In his opinion, this would be bad optics for Georgia
and could contribute to de facto recognition.


4. (SBU) Second, he noted that the GoG has experienced some
problems with delivering their in-kind assistance to Georgia.
For example, according to Karafotias, two trucks loaded with
humanitarian supplies (blankets, tents, medical items) sat at
a border checkpoint in Georgia for two weeks after entering
from Turkey until the paperwork could be worked out by
Georgian authorities. Both the EconCouns and DepEconCouns
tried to ease his concerns by noting that South Ossetia was
included, to the extent possible given security
considerations, in the JNA and would have assistance targeted
to its needs. On the issue of delivery of assistance,
EconCouns urged the GoG to immediately relay any further
obstacles they encountered to the U.S. Embassy so we could
try to work with our Embassy in Georgia to resolve the issues
and speed the provision of critical humanitarian supplies.


5. (SBU) In a separate meeting on October 16 (see reftel
D),the DCM asked MFA Secretary General Agathocles what
Greece would pledge at the conference. Agathocles replied
that Greece might give additional funding but noted that the
Greek budget was under much pressure due to the financial
crisis. He explained that while the MFA could understand the
need to support Georgia -- and that the amount would hardly
have an impact on the overall budget -- politicians outside
foreign-policy circles were likely to complain about
supporting the Georgians when Greeks were entering
increasingly difficult economic times.


6. (SBU) Comment. Embassy discussions with the GoG showed a
slightly less forward-leaning stance on further assistance to
Georgia than was the case one month ago (see reftels B and
C). In the case of Karafotias, he was more reserved than his
predecessor Ambassador Mitrogogos was on this issue. It is
not clear whether this is because of his genuine concerns
about getting the pledge right, or if it is due to emerging

ATHENS 00001463 002.2 OF 002


Greek budget realities. It is probably not a stretch to say
that the credit crisis and the resulting pressure on the
Greek economy are likely to have some impact on Greece's
donor pocketbook. The Embassy will continue to press the GoG
to reach deep into its pockets and put more meat on the bones
of its public statements of support for Georgia. End Comment.
SPECKHARD