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