GOOD CANDIDATES FOR NEXT NATO CONTACT POINT EMBASSY IN

UNCLAS PODGORICA 000233 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: MW PGOV PREL NATO SUBJECT: GOOD CANDIDATES FOR NEXT NATO CONTACT POINT EMBASSY IN PODGORICA ¶1. (SBU) As Montenegro works towards its goal of NATO membership, the decision as to which Ally's Embassy will serve as NATO Contact Point Embassy (CPE) in Podgorica is an important one. This is especially true in light of the GOM's goal of attaining entry into MAP at next year's NATO Summit, as well as its efforts to vigorously implement IPAP, PARP, and PfP and to step up public support for NATO membership. The current CPE -- Greece -- has unfortunately not lived up to the challenge of actively coordinating NATO efforts here. ¶2. (SBU) Both the Slovenian and Hungarian Ambassadors have expressed interest in serving as the next CPE. Both Embassies have similar capacities -- the Hungarians have a staff of three diplomats and the Slovenes have four. Hungary does not yet have a DATT (Slovenia does),but promises to transfer its DATT from Zagreb to Podgorica if it gets the CPE role. According to the Hungarian Ambassador, the Hungarian DATT in Zagreb managed the CPE process there and speaks the local language. Hungary has placed Montenegro on the top of its CPE "wish list," with Bosnia and Macedonia ranked second and third. We do not know about Slovenia's CPE rank order, but both Slovenia and Hungary have excellent relations with Montenegro. Further, the fact that they are both newer Allies gives them additional credibility with the Montenegrin public, which would position them favorably to "sell" the benefits of joining NATO. ¶3. (SBU) RECOMMENDATION: Both Embassies are led by energetic and capable Ambassadors who have pledged to significantly step up the CPE role, something we strongly support. We believe that either Embassy would do a great job. The US Embassy will continue to strongly support the efforts of the CPE to intensify relations between Montenegro and NATO. At this stage, we recommend not favoring either Slovenia or Hungary, but joining with any consensus that develops. MOORE