GAERC: ESTONIA LIKELY TO JOIN CONSENSUS ON PCA

C O N F I D E N T I A L TALLINN 000393

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/31/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV EUN RS EN
SUBJECT: GAERC: ESTONIA LIKELY TO JOIN CONSENSUS ON PCA

Classified by: CDA KAREN DECKER for reasons 1.4 (b) & (d)

RE: STATE 115017


1. (C) MFA European Correspondent Kristina Meius confirmed
to Pol/Econ Chief on November 7 that Estonia will not block
consensus at next week's GAERC on moving forward with PCA
negotiations. Meius said that she believes the member
states will find a compromise solution. Estonia will agree
to resume PCA talks, but in return it wants agreement on
several key principles: 1) EU-Russia relations cannot
continue with "business as usual" as there is no trust
between the partners; 2) a clear indication that Russia has
not fulfilled its commitments to withdraw to the position
it held prior to August 7; and cooperation with Russia
cannot move forward in several sensitive areas including
the visa dialogue, political dialogue and ESDP. The GOE
also wants agreement on increased attention to the European
Neighborhood Policy (ENP). Meius noted that if the PCA is
blocked, the EU would end up with a series of bilateral
agreements with Russia that are "not in the interest of
small member states." Meius was clear that point 2 is a
red line for Estonia, it will not agree to conclusions
which indicate Russia has met its obligations in Georgia.


2. (C) Meius noted there was discussion yesterday in
COREPER regarding where the decisions on Russia will be
recorded. Estonia wants the issued dealt with in the
Council Conclusions, but noted it could end up in minutes
or elsewhere.
DECKER