GREEK VIEWS ON DECEMBER GAERC ISSUES

UNCLAS ATHENS 001627 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV ETRD EUN PHUM GR SUBJECT: GREEK VIEWS ON DECEMBER GAERC ISSUES REF: SECSTATE 127023 ¶1. (SBU) DepPolCouns and PolOff delivered reftel points to MFA European Correspondent Antonia Katzourou. Her responses below are keyed to the main issue topics of the demarche: -- BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: Katzourou was unable to speak directly to the issue of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but said EU englargement in the Balkans would be a key topic of discussion at the GAERC. -- MACEDONIA: Katzourou said that Greece was ready to solve the Macedonia name issue, but it had only seen "negative signs" from Skopje. She commented that internal disputes within "FYROM" had stalled any new developments. -- ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN PEACE: According to Katzourou, the peace process would be on the agenda for the December GAERC. She noted however that this is a "transitory period" following the U.S. presidential election and concluding the term of the French six-month EU presidency, and she did not anticipate major substantive conclusions to this issue. -- EU ENLARGREMENT AND TURKEY: Katzourou said her office was not following this issue although she believed it would be on the GAERC agenda. -- PAKISTAN: According to Katzourou, much discussion at the December GAERC concerning Pakistan would be about the Mumbai terrorist attacks. She said that the EU would continue to urge Pakistan to cooperate with India on the investigations. Furthermore, the EU would explore various fields including trade, economy, combating terrorism, and infrastructure in which to initiate collaboration with Pakistan. -- DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: The escalating situation in the DRC was of great concern to Greece and would be part of the GAERC agenda. She noted that two EU missions were currently operating in the DRC, providing training for the police and security sector. Further discussions of how to expand these missions would be discussed at the December GAERC. However, Katzourou commented that there had been no talk about an EU military mission to supplement UN missions operating in the DRC. -- EUROPEAN SECURITY STRATEGY: According to Katzourou, the ESS would also be on the December GAERC agenda. A document first drawn up in 2003 by the EU's High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana, the ESS specifies the security strategy for identifying threats that face the EU and defining its strategic directives. After five years, the document had been updated and was now expected to be adopted officially. SPECKHARD