UZBEKISTAN APPROVES MAJORITY OF OSCE PROJECTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L TASHKENT 000447 SIPDIS SIPDIS USOSCE FOR ELIZABETH KAUFMAN E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/16/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL OSCE PHUM UZ SUBJECT: UZBEKISTAN APPROVES MAJORITY OF OSCE PROJECTS Classified By: Political Officer Tim Buckley for reasons 1.4 (B,D) ¶1. (C) Summary: On April 14 Bernard Rouault, Senior Project Officer at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Project Coordination Office in Tashkent, informed poloff that the Government of Uzbekistan approved 14 of the 19 proposed projects submitted for 2008 after a long period of silence. This represents an increase in the number of projects approved from the past two years and Rouault noted that "there is more of a balance across all three dimensions." OSCE Ambassador Istvan Venczel told the Ambassador on April 14 that he was pleased they can now begin new projects but believes the Government of Uzbekistan deliberately calibrated the level of engagement. Interestingly, some of the rejected projects had been proposed at the request of Uzbek government partners, which may suggest some divisions within the Apparat about what role to allow the OSCE to play in Uzbekistan. The five-month deliberation process has already cut into the implementation timeframe for many projects, but the positive response is a welcome development for an organization that has been struggling to avoid marginalization in Uzbekistan. End summary. Finally, a Response -------------- ¶2. (C) Rouault informed poloff on April 14 that the Government of Uzbekistan had finally provided a response to the formal list of 2008 projects submitted by the Project Coordination Office in November 2007. After more than five months of frustrating delays and assurances that an answer would be forthcoming "soon," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs delivered a response on April 11 that informed OSCE that 14 projects were approved and five were rejected. No further explanations or comments were provided. The initial list anticipated a starting timeframe of January 2008, so the late notification may mean that some projects will have to be condensed unless extensions are approved at a later date. More Projects, Better Balance -------------- ¶3. (C) Rouault was optimistic that the number of approved projects was significantly higher than in the previous few years, when just seven were approved in 2006 and ten in 2007. Furthermore, he noted that "there is more of a balance across all three dimensions," including the human dimension that the Uzbeks generally try to avoid. In a subsequent conversation with the Ambassador, Venczel said he was pleased that the Project Coordination Office can now begin some projects in earnest after months of uncertainty. Wenczel opined that the Government of Uzbekistan had deliberately calibrated the level of engagement, strategically denying certain projects in each sphere but particularly in the human dimension (three of the five rejected projects were related to the human dimension). ¶4. (C) Rouault was surprised by some of the rejected projects, since they had been included on the original proposal list at the request of government or quasi-government partners. For instance, one rejected project would have worked with the National Center for Human Rights on capacity-building and the realization of recommendations of UN Committees on human rights. Another was a Social Initiatives Support Project that would have been undertaken in partnership with the Department of Education, Healthcare, and Social Protection of the Cabinet of Ministers. (Note: Since government officials would only have requested a submission for projects that they were confident about obtaining approval for, these rejections may suggest divisions within the Apparat or between power ministries of what type of role to grant the OSCE in Uzbekistan. End note). Comment: -------------- ¶5. (C) The positive, albeit slow, response from the Government of Uzbekistan is a welcome development, especially given the Project Coordination Office's recent struggles to avoid marginalization. The mission has had to work hard just to get invited to high-profile events such as the March law enforcement and human rights conference and it was unable to secure an invitation to the March Aral Sea conference. The Government of Uzbekistan associates the OSCE with the EU and the U.S. and may have kept OSCE at arm's length until attempts to thaw relations on a bilateral basis bore some fruit. The approval of the majority of OSCE's 2008 projects, including some human dimension work, is another indication of the Government of Uzbekistan's willingness for more substantive engagement with the West -- albeit, as usual, on its own terms. NORLAND