GREECE AND US REACH ACCORD ON HSPD-6 DRAFT TEXT

C O N F I D E N T I A L ATHENS 000783

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/SE: WEINSTEIN, COWAN, GOODMAN; CA/VO FOR JOHN
BRENNAN; CA/P FOR FRELICK ADN DONAHUE; DHS PLEASE PASS TO
MARC FREY

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/04/2018
TAGS: PTER PGOV PINR ASEC CVIS KVPRKHLS GR
SUBJECT: GREECE AND US REACH ACCORD ON HSPD-6 DRAFT TEXT

REF: ATHENS 221

Classified By: Tom Countryman, DCM, for reason 1.4 (d)


1. (C) Summary: State Department and Terrorist Screening
Center (TSC) representatives engaged in a marathon
negotiating session with Greek Foreign Ministry and Hellenic
police officials on May 28. After 11 hours, a
mutually-acceptable draft of the Homeland Security
Presidential Directive-6 (HSPD-6) arrangement was achieved.
While the document will require review and final revision by
both sides, the USG side and the GoG negotiators agreed to
move to a conclusion as expeditiously as possible. In trying
to avoid a document that would require parliamentary
approval, the USG side proposed an exchange of letters
between Ambassador and an appropriate interlocutor on the
Greek side, as the Embassy and GoG had done on other issues
in the past. End summary.


2. (C) As per reftel, a joint State Department/TSC team made
up of Alcy Frelick (Senior Coordinator, CA/P/IP),Richard
Kopel (Principal Deputy Director, TSC),Jacqueline &Lyn8
Brown (FBI, Legal Advisor, TSC) and Kathleen Hooke (Attorney
Adviser, L/CA) represented the USG, along with the CG, the
visa unit chief, and deputy political counselor from Embassy
Athens. The Greek government negotiators were led by
Ambassador Chryssoula Aliferi (Director of the Department of
Justice, Home Affairs and Schengen at the MFA) and Police
Lieutenant General Stefanos Skotis of the Hellenic Police
(Ministry of Interior). Other participants from the MFA
included Greg Vassiloconstantakis (Acting Director, North
America Directorate) and Despina Lourbacou (First Counselor,
Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Schengen). In
addition, four legal advisors were present, from both the
Department of International Public Law (Zinovia Stavridis and
Martha Papadopoulou) and the Department of European Law
(Ekaterini Samoni and Tatiana Papadopoulou). Six officials
from the Hellenic Police also participated.


3. (C) Both sides came to the table ready to negotiate a
mutually acceptable document. Lawyers from L/CA and TSC
clarified legal issues in the text that had confused the
Greeks in their initial review, and substituted language that
was more direct. Our Greek interlocutors were prepared,
fully engaged, and collegial in their approach. At the end
of a long day, the basic text had been agreed to with certain
details such as the document header and the format (formal
agreement or an exchange of letters) remaining to be
resolved. Both sides agreed to aim for a final resolution on
the text within a week if possible. The GoG team cautioned,
however, that a formal agreement might require parliamentary
approval. This decision, Ambassador Aliferi said, would be
made &higher up.8 Ms. Frelick noted that parliamentary
approval would likely trigger a need for a binding agreement
on our side, which would delay conclusion of the issue by
many months.


4. (C) COMMENT: These discussions were conducted in an
atmosphere of goodwill on both sides, and both went to the
table with an intention to conclude an agreement. The length
and difficulty of the negotiations arose from the entirely
different legal and structural institutions in Greece and the
U.S, the strong privacy and data protection laws in Greece
and the EU, and from a mutual desire not to undermine ongoing
informal info-sharing arrangements. The GoG,s conduct in
the discussions indicated they recognized both the value of
the HSPD-6 program for its own sake, and the role an HSPD-6
agreement will have in satisfying one of the implementing
arrangements for the VWP. The serious and flexible approach
the Greek negotiators demonstrated bodes well for a rapid
conclusion of the very few outstanding issues in the
negotiation of the more general Visa Waiver MOU. END COMMENT.
SPECKHARD