BSEC THINK-TANKERS ON BLACK SEA PROSPECTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L ATHENS 000257 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/21/2018 TAGS: PREL PGOV GR ZS XH SUBJECT: BSEC THINK-TANKERS ON BLACK SEA PROSPECTS Classified By: AMBASSADOR DANIEL SPECKHARD. REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D). ¶1. (C) On February 20, Ambassador hosted Dr. Dimitrios Triantaphyllou and Amb. Tedo Japaridze, respectively, director and deputy director of the International Center for Black Sea Studies (ICBSS),the think tank of the organization for Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC). In a wide-ranging discussion on the Black Sea region, BSEC, and ICBSS, Triantaphyllou and Japaridze -- the latter a former foreign minister of Georgia and Georgian ambassador to the U.S. -- confirmed what has often been noted about BSEC: that while the Black Sea region is one of great geo-strategic importance, the BSEC organization is unable to move much beyond talk of cooperation to substantive progress on concrete projects or region-wide interaction. This was due to the obvious differences in interests, economic vitality, population size, and political and institutional affiliations (EU vs. non-EU, NATO vs. non-NATO, etc.) of the states-members and observers. ¶2. (C) Many of the difficulties BSEC experiences were predictable. Triantaphyllou said "all hell breaks loose" when questions of security in the region were raised, with the Russians being the most vocal. The Russians also seek to establish parity between BSEC and the EU in discussions between the two entities -- a position Triantaphyllou thought ridiculous given the mature character of the EU and BSEC's much less developed status. He also observed that the Russians and the Turks both took an attitude of "hands off our sea" when potential cooperation with outside entities was raised. At the same time, Triantaphyllou told us there was little coalition building within BSEC -- that is, he saw few instances where, say, countries such as Russia and Turkey worked together against the smaller states. "Things are not that developed," he explained. The more significant division was between the countries with good quality diplomats vs. those with lesser quality diplomats. The former were able to formulate coherent proposals and to work for their discussion and possible adoption by BSEC; the latter usually were reactive, trying to keep up with the others. ¶3. (C) On the way forward, the ICBSS leaders said BSEC would focus on developing further its relations with the EU, the long-term Black Sea ring highway project, and projects on good governance, though the latter generally met stiff resistance from the Russians. Energy was another area of discussion, though Triantaphyllou said BSEC had made little progress on any energy projects or cooperative efforts. Triantaphyllou liked the Ambassador's idea of a paper on energy principles and said he would pursue it. He noted, however, that it would be very difficult to find an author that all parties would recognize as "neutral." Finally, on the U.S. role, Triantaphyllou and Japaridze had heard about the U.S. environmental workshop project but were not familiar with its details. Nevertheless, they encouraged the U.S. to remain active as a BSEC observer. "The U.S can play a constructive role," they noted. SPECKHARD