MFA PREVIEWS RUSSIAN GOALS FOR OSCE MINISTERIAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MOSCOW 003424

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/20/2018
TAGS: PREL PARM OSCE RS
SUBJECT: MFA PREVIEWS RUSSIAN GOALS FOR OSCE MINISTERIAL

REF: STATE 106943

Classified By: POL MC Alice G. Wells for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

Summary
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1. (C) At the December 4 OSCE ministerial in Helsinki,
Russia will formally launch Medvedev's proposed European
Security Treaty (EST),push its reform agenda, and seek
"balance" in any Ministerial Declaration. The MFA tells us
that they see the OSCE as a dated body that does not take
into account "more dynamic groups" and will continue to push
reform in OSCE and ODIHR at both the Summit and in Vienna.
Russia does not see a consensus for a Ministerial Statement,
and does not hold out much hope in agreeing to language on
Georgia. However, the Russian delegation will insist on
incorporating the agreement of Presidents Sarkozy and
Medvedev for an OSCE summit or meeting in 2009 to discuss the
EST. When taken together, Russia's long-standing calls for
reform and its proposed EST, calls into question Russia's
continued support of the institution of the OSCE. End
summary.

EST Proposal
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2. (C) Lavrov, reportedly joined by French FM Kouchner,
will use the lunch on December 4 as the first opportunity for
a senior, multilateral discussion of the EST. Vladimir
Yanin, Senior Counselor at the MFA covering OSCE issues,
could provide us no details on Lavrov's presentation, but
told us that Lavrov was drafting his own remarks and they
would be a detailed elaboration of the concept. Yanin also
told us that the MFA was planning on a summit or meeting in
June or July to discuss the proposal, and participation would
at least be based on the membership of the OSCE, plus
representatives of related international and multilateral
organizations, if not an OSCE hosted event.

Reform
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3. (C) While Russia's EST proposal takes aim at what Russia
perceives as the OSCE's failures to address "hard security"
or "military-political" issues, Russia's long-standing calls
for OSCE reform hits at Office of Democratic Institutions and
Human Rights (ODIHR),in particular, and the broader concept
of security. DFM Grushko in an interview stated that
"microscopic measures are clearly insufficient to remedy the
systemic weaknesses that exist in this institution (ODIHR)."
He further charged that the office "has turned into a
mechanism of intervention in the internal affairs of states
located east of Vienna." According to Yanin, Russia will
continue to press for reform of the OSCE and ODIHR in four
areas: adoption of a charter, agreement on basic principles
for election monitoring, standardization of field missions,
and the role and accreditation process of non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) at OSCE sessions. "The OSCE is an
old-timer, created at a different time that does not take
into account the formation of the EU or more dynamic groups,"
he said. Both Yanin, to us, and Grushko, publicly,
criticized the OSCE for attempting to take on new issues
without a clear mandate. Yanin observed that "the OSCE is
trying to find niche issues, competing with competent
organizations, for example on climate change," and that the
Council of Europe was a more "lawful" and better equipped
institution to address human rights concerns in Europe.

Ministerial Statements
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4. (C) Yanin outlined a defensive position for Russia in
regards to any OSCE statements, telling us that the Russian
delegation would not support any document that went counter
to Russian views of the situation in Georgia or Kosovo or did
not achieve a "balance between hard and soft security
issues." While recognizing that it was a point of pride to
adopt a political declaration in Helsinki, he called it a
"test of will," as there was no consensus on the need for a
statement. He noted that it was likely that Russia could
work to join a consensus on text regarding regional conflicts
in Transnistria and Nagorno-Karabakh, but "there remained too
many differences to find common ground" regarding Georgia.
Russia will push hard for any statement to include the
sentiment and comments of Presidents Medvedev and Sarkozy
following the recent EU-Russia Summit in Nice, where Sarkozy
endorsed the EST concept and called for a summit. Should a
declaration not be possible, Russia's delegation may seek a

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separate statement announcing the approval of the OSCE for
the EST initiative.

Comment
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5. (C) The language used to support President Medvedev's
recent proposal for an EST and long-standing Russian
proposals for reform of both the OSCE and ODIHR calls into
question Russia's continued support for the OSCE as an
institution and the common goals and values of the member
states.
BEYRLE