ITALIAN PSC AMBASSADOR REVIEWS GEORGIA DEPLOYMENT,

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRUSSELS 001533 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/29/2018 TAGS: PREL MARR EUN PTER SUBJECT: ITALIAN PSC AMBASSADOR REVIEWS GEORGIA DEPLOYMENT, THE BALKANS, AND PIRACY REF: BRUSSELS USEU 1494 Classified By: Political Minister Counselor Christopher Davis for reaso ns 1.4 (b, d). ¶1. (C) Summary: Italian PSC Ambassador Andrea Meloni and his counselors covered a range of high priority topics at a lunch hosted for Charge, Political Minister-Counselor and Deputy Minister-Counselor. Meloni described the start-up of the deployment to Georgia of the approximately 265 EU monitors, representing 22 of the 27 EU countries. Meloni predicted that a range of Balkans issues would feature prominently in the EU calendar in coming months, with potential progress on Serbia and deployment of EULEX in Kosovo. Meloni also described concerns over piracy, but noted Italy would not be able, for the moment, to contribute to EU patrolling efforts. End Summary. ¶2. (C) On Georgia, Meloni and his staff noted that 22 out of 27 EU countries were sending monitors, with the remaining five countries looking at contributing to a second wave. The first contingents are expecting to stay four months. The Italian monitors (reportedly some 30 in number) have arrived and will assist the arrival of other monitors. They will be posted with German, Lithuanian and Czech monitors in the same location. While many are military or police, they will shed military garb and weapons, and paint vehicles white to maintain the civilian character of the mission. There will be some 265 monitors to accommodate all countries which wanted to be part of the Mission. Meloni, like others, emphasized that quick deployment of all the observers would help give the Russians no excuses to comply with their commitment to withdraw into South Ossetia and Abkhazia prior to October 10. ¶3. (C) Meloni predicted that Balkans issues would continue to be high profile in coming months as several Balkan states sought membership in the EU and NATO. On Serbia, the Italians thought the Dutch would eventually ease up on their isolated "hard line" position on insisting on Serbia's fuller cooperation with the ICTY, so as to allow an Interim Agreement with Belgrade (with emphasis on trade) to go forward. As for the ICJ referral on Kosovo, the Italians let on that the EU vote in UNGA had been discussed in terms of Serbia's future stance regarding EULEX,s deployment in northern Kosovo. The EU French presidency, they said, is trying to find consensus on an EU position on the UNGA vote, describing one exchange wherein the UK delegate threatened to vote no to counter another member state wanting to vote yes. ¶4. (C) Our interlocutors suggested that the Serb government may be pursuing the ICJ referral so that it can tell its public that it tried. It would be hard for the Serbs should Croatia be able to move forward with EU accession. On Kosovo, and, indirectly, Macedonia, he said that the Greeks had won points for not being difficult on Kosovo, with an unspoken shift within the EU toward Greece on the name issue, and the return of the term "FYROM" in EU discussions. Greece's positive role vis a vis Kosovo, along with unhelpful developments within Macedonia, had hurt Skopje,s cause. ¶5. (C) Meloni said the meeting of EU defense ministers on October 1 in Deauville would consider the problem of piracy near the Somali coast, but repeated several times that Italy would not have resources available for the effort. He noted that the EU coordination cell had been established and responded to our inquiry into the possibility of NATO and the EU working together in combating piracy by reviewing the barriers to cooperation, primarily the difficulties created by Turkey whenever NATO-EU cooperation is raised. One of Meloni,s counselors, who had regional experience, raised the question of what the pirates were doing with the money gained, noting the informal financial networks that operate in the Horn of Africa and with Yemen. He discounted the notion of formal Al Qaeda connections, but not of extended links to a variety of criminal networks, commenting that it is the custom in that part of the world to "keep all doors open." .