FRENCH EXPECTATIONS FOR GYMNICH

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 001672 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/04/2018 TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM GG RU FR SUBJECT: FRENCH EXPECTATIONS FOR GYMNICH REF: A. STATE 93272 ¶B. STATE 93264 ¶C. PARIS POINTS FOR SEPTEMBER 2 Classified By: PolMC Kathleen Allegrone for reasons 1.4 (B & D). ¶1. (C) Summary: On September 4, MFA CFSP Deputy Mathieu Carmona shared his expectations for the September 5-6 Gymnich meeting of EU Foreign Ministers, responding to reftel demarches A and B. Carmona advised that Friday's discussion will focus on Transatlantic Relations, with an emphasis on maintaining momentum on key international issues where strong transatlantic cooperation is required during the upcoming change in U.S. administration. A first "reflection paper" on revising the European Security Strategy will be presented. Saturday morning discussion will focus on Georgia and Russia, focusing on next steps after the September 1 European Council and incorporating Turkey (as an EU candidate country) into some of the discussion. The Middle East Peace Process will be the topic of a working lunch, though the discussion will be all oral at the special request of Israeli FM Livni to the French. Finally, Carmona noted strong cooperation with the Serbian government and high hopes that further progress will be enabled in the near term on Serbian rapprochement to the EU. End Summary. ¶2. (C) TRANSATLANTIC RELATIONS: Carmona echoed previous French statements that the purpose of the "transatlantic relations" discussion is to ensure no loss of momentum on key international issues during the upcoming change in U.S. administration and the personnel changes it will entail. Key among those issues may be Iran, where both "stick and carrot" diplomacy must continue to be used to prevent the Iranians from succeeding at waiting out the current U.S. administration. Carmona emphasized that shared U.S.-European values like defense of democracy will be prioritized, as opposed to "values" issues where our policies may diverge, such as protection of personal data and the death penalty. In a sidebar discussion, he noted that there was very strong consensus among EU members to issue the July 11 declaration on the execution in Texas of Mexican national Jose Medellin. He said even some of the EU members "closest" to the U.S. wanted very strong language, much to France's surprise, largely because the execution took place before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) had made its final ruling. He said some Europeans hoped the July 11 declaration would strengthen the federal government's effort to urge states like Texas to consider international law in other such cases. He also said the EU will support another UN resolution for moratoria on the death penalty. ¶3. (C) EUROPEAN SECURITY STRATEGY: The EU has a mandate to deliver a revised European Security Strategy (ESS) to the December European Council meeting; revising the ESS is one of France's major goals for its European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP) Presidency priority. Foreign Ministers will receive the first "reflection paper" at the Gymnich. Carmona noted that as the strategy will include diverse threats such as cyber attacks, energy security, and climate change, not all the responses foreseen in the strategy will be military. Carmona noted PolOff's request for more information on possibilities for dialogue with the U.S. throughout the revision process. Carmona also said this discussion could take place as early as Friday night, though a subsequent MFA press briefing scheduled it for Saturday late morning. ¶4. (C) GEORGIA: Carmona said the Gymnich discussion will include implementation of recent European Council decisions such as deployment of an EU observation mission and Special Representative, as well as the "parameters" of future relations with Russia. Carmona noted that Turkey will be invited to join the final part of the discussion of Georgia and Russia focused on regional implications. This decision is due to Turkey's potentially important role in a resolution based on Ankara's strong relationships in the Caucasus and with Russia. For the September 15 GAERC meeting, Carmona said the readout from Sarkozy's trip to Russia (scheduled for September 8) will inform a decision on deployment of an observation mission. He noted that the key near-term goal for both Sarkozy's trip and the mission is ensuring the withdrawal of Russian armed forces. Carmona also said that the October GAERC will be key in informing the regularly-scheduled next meeting of the European Council in October. ¶5. (C) MIDDLE EAST PEACE PROCESS: MFA DAS-equivalent for PARIS 00001672 002 OF 002 the Levant Ludovic Pouille on August 29 explained that France will use the discussion to outline its thinking on how the EU can play a more supportive role in the Middle East Peace Process (MEPP). Carmona elaborated that the French had prepared a non-paper to distribute to other member-states in advance of the meeting, to serve as the basis for the discussion. However, Israeli Foreign Minister Livni made a special request of FM Kouchner not to distribute a written paper, as she feared it could interfere with the Kadima Party's primary election in mid-September. Carmona emphasized that due to Livni's request, the discussion will be an oral one only. However, he said the French Embassy in Washington will demarche the State Department with the already-prepared document in hand. (Note: We understand this happened on September 4.) Carmona also remarked that the MEPP agenda item will carry over to the next several GAERC meetings to maintain as much momentum as possible in the international arena. For Pouille's commentary, see ref C at http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/blogs/ embassyparisdailyreport. ¶6. (C) SERBIA: Although Carmona said Serbia will not be a major topic of discussion, he noted that Serbian FM Jeremic met with FM Kouchner in Paris September 2 and that the Serbian government continues to evince serious interest in cooperation. He said that if the final two ICTY arrests were made, Serbia's Stabilization and Accession Agreement (SAA) would proress very quickly. He noted that while Serbia may be unable to roll back its position on Kosovo, the government seems to have reined in intelligence services that were instigating tensions through the Kosovo Serbs. Successful deployment of EULEX is in Serbia's interest since it will protect Kosovo Serbs. Please visit Paris' Classified Website at: http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Fran ce STAPLETON