GERMANY: UNCERTAIN ABOUT AID PACKAGE AND MIXED ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L BERLIN 001407 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/15/2018 TAGS: MOPS OSCE PHUM PREL UN GG RS GM SUBJECT: GERMANY: UNCERTAIN ABOUT AID PACKAGE AND MIXED ON OBSERVER MISSIONS REF: STATE 109212 Classified By: Political Minister-Counselor Jeffrey Rathke for reasons: 1.4 (B) AND (D). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Poloff delivered reftel points to MFA Deputy Office Director for South Caucasus and Central Asia Maria Gosse on October 14, who stressed that Germany plans on delivering an aid package for Georgia and the region, but is unlikely to provide direct budget support. Gosse also shared that while the EU Monitoring Mission continues to seek access to South Ossetia and Abkhazia, most at the MFA see this development as "unrealistic" in the near term. However, the MFA viewed the extension of the UNOMIG mandate in Abkhazia as a large success and hoped the Geneva process would provide a platform for continuing to negotiate the UNOMIG mission. END SUMMARY ¶2. (C) Gosse agreed that Georgia needs direct budget support but viewed such support as "politically difficult" and "unlikely." She referred to the European Commission's pledge and expected Germany's contribution to be bound to specific projects. However, Gosse complained that specific projects are not easy to find and that the MFA needed to determine what overall direction it wanted for projects. Gosse related that although a deadline for an internal paper detailing contributions to Georgia had passed, the MFA and Chancellery had not yet reached an agreement on how much money to provide. The MFA considers the assistance package as a regional effort rather than solely as assistance to Georgia, and is seeking projects that help stabilize the region, according to Gosse. ¶3. (C) Regarding the observer missions, Gosse was downbeat about the possibility of the EU Monitoring Mission gaining access to South Ossetia and Abkhazia in the near term. Although Germany will continue to pressure Russia for access, Gosse related that the MFA views access to the "buffer zones" as a success and that "we should be glad to be there." She quickly emphasized that Germany would continue to use the term "territorial integrity" in talks, but viewed access to the two provinces as unlikely. Gosse was more positive regarding UNOMIG and the four-month extension of its mandate. The MFA hopes to use the Geneva process that started October 15 to continue negotiations and further extend the mission, according to Gosse. KOENIG