U/S BURNS MEETS FINNISH FM AND OSCE CIO ALEXANDER

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HELSINKI 000561 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PARM PHUM OSCE FI GG RS IR IS CH IN PK, AF SUBJECT: U/S BURNS MEETS FINNISH FM AND OSCE CIO ALEXANDER STUBB ¶1. (SBU) Summary: U/S Burns met Finnish Foreign Minister and OSCE Chairman in Office (CiO) Alexander Stubb on the margins of the OSCE Ministerial Council meeting December 4 in Helsinki. Burns provided Stubb an update on Secretary Rice's trip to India, and Stubb replied that was where she needed to be. Stubb indicated Finland would plus up its troop presence in Afghanistan once it downsized deployments in Kosovo and Bosnia. Stubb, who had just come from meeting Russian FM Lavrov, declared his hopes for an OSCE political declaration, though he noted that the Russians had deep red lines on the indivisibility of security and also on Georgia and CFE. Stubb said a new OSCE Georgia mandate was likely to include a Special Representative for missions in Georgia and South Ossetia. On Iran, Stubb reaffirmed Finland's support for the EU3 position. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) Participants U.S. U/S Burns EUR A/S Fried Ambassador to Finland Barbara Barrett EUR DAS Matthew Bryza P Special Assistant David Van Cleve USOSCE Dep. Pol Couns. Andrew Hyde Embassy Helsinki Notetaker: Jane Messenger Finland FM Alexander Stubb OSCE Task Force Chair Aleksi Harkonen DG Elina Kalkku Special Assistant Jori Arvonen North America Unit Director Anna Wickstrom Desk Officer Jyri Jarviaho Executive Assistant Katarina Prepula Update on Secretary Rice's Trip to South Asia -------------- ¶3. (SBU) U/S Burns congratulated FM Stubb on a successful year as OSCE CiO and noted that Finland took the reins during a challenging period. Stubb said he understood why Secretary Rice had to cancel her original plan to attend the Ministerial Council meeting in Helsinki and he welcomed U/S Burns' readout of her trip. Burns noted that it was important for Secretary Rice to travel to the region to provide reassurance to the Indians and to press the Pakistanis to provide clear and tangible evidence that they are making efforts to address the situation. Burns also confirmed that India and Afghanistan were top priorities for the U.S. presidential transition team. OSCE Ministerial Council Meeting Political Declaration -------------- - ¶4. (SBU) FM Stubb arrived for his meeting with the U.S. delegation having just met with Russian FM Lavrov. Stubb expressed hope for a political declaration, but noted that the Russians had deep red lines on the indivisibility of security as well as on Georgia and CFE. Including anything on Kosovo was also a non-starter unless it included mention of the OSCE mission mandate. "They are playing cat and mouse," Stubb said and indicated that he would press on the indivisibility of security and make cosmetic changes to statements on Georgia and CFE. U/S Burns observed that Russian President Medvedev's attitude toward European security architecture is long with complaints and short on specific ideas the Russians actually support. Stubb said he would keep resisting Russian efforts to include issues out of the OSCE context. Ambassador Harkonen said that unless the Russians give up certain points, there would not be a declaration. (Note: There was no declaration in the end.) Stubb concluded by noting that the EU and NATO remain the cornerstones for European security. OSCE Mandate for Georgia -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Stubb said that there were three options for an extension of the OSCE mission mandate in Georgia. 1) technical rollover, which Moscow would not allow; 2) a full mandate renewal, which was unrealistic or 3) a compromise negotiated by the CiO's Special Envoy Ambassador Heikki Talvatie, that would establish separate offices in Tbilisi and Tshkinvali with mandates in all three OSCE baskets minus conflict resolution. The offices would be under the auspices of a Vienna-based Special Representative, who would have the HELSINKI 00000561 002 OF 002 lead on conflict resolution. DAS Bryza noted that the Russians did not quite understand that under the plan the mission would be run out of Vienna. Stubb replied that the Finns would travel to Moscow on December 8 to present the plan to the Russians. Finnish Contributions in Afghanistan -------------- ¶7. (SBU) U/S Burns thanked Stubb for Finland's contributions in Afghanistan. "Your comments are generous. I think we could do more," quipped Stubb. Stubb said Finland was looking at increasing its troop levels in Afghanistan once it downsized Kosovo and Bosnia, but he did not specify a number or a timeframe. Stubb also acknowledged that Finland was politically unable to provide the kind of support that Sweden did, for example. Stubb welcomed NATO's engagement in Afghanistan and said that the alliance's increasingly global approach was good for the NATO debate in Finland. Iran -------------- ¶8. (SBU) Stubb said Finland was "worried" about Iran, considered it a key issue and was fully supportive of the EU3 position. U/S Burns agreed there was good reason to worry and commented on the reactions of Iran's nearest neighbors, particularly Israel. Burns also noted that China's role would be important. Stubb briefed U/S Burns on the detainment in Finland November 30 of two members of the Iranian NGO MKO. (Note: They had come to Finland to take part in preparations for the visit of the organization's leader, who had been invited to Finland by the Finnish Parliament's human rights group. Officials held the two at Helsinki-Vantaa airport on the basis of an international arrest warrant issued by Interpol. The press later reported that the warrant had been issued at the request of Iran. Finnish authorities released the men on December 3 but advised them not to leave Finland. End Note.) Transatlantic Relations -------------- ¶9. (SBU) Stubb commented that relations between the U.S. and Europe were strong. He had just come from the NATO Foreign Ministers meeting in Brussels, (Note: Finland is a member of Partnership for Peace, not NATO.) where he had had a short pull-aside with Secretary Rice and remarked on what he perceived to be a very different atmosphere from 2003. U/S Burns agreed, thanked Stubb for his hard work as CiO and congratulated Finland on the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari. Stubb noted he would be attending the ceremony on December 10 in Oslo and that it was a great honor for him and for Finland. ¶10. (U) U/S Burns has cleared this message. BARRETT