GEORGIA: HEAD OF EU MONITORING MISSION GIVES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TBILISI 001833

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/02/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL MOPS GG
SUBJECT: GEORGIA: HEAD OF EU MONITORING MISSION GIVES
OPERATIONAL OVERVIEW

REF: TBILISI 1810

Classified By: Ambassador John F. Tefft for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary and comment. On October 2, Head of the EU
Monitoring Mission in Georgia, Ambassador Hansjorg Haber,
informed diplomatic colleagues about the mission and its
plans. Although all 225 civilian monitors are in place, the
mission expects all 127 support staff will arrive only by the
end of October. The mission is still getting organized and
making plans. Three patrols successfully passed Russian
checkpoints October 1 outside South Ossetia, but patrols in
western Georgia have not yet approached Russian checkpoints
there. The mission will not seek to enter Abkhazia or South
Ossetia proper until after October 10, when the Russians have
left undisputed Georgian territory. Haber sees the mission's
mandate as fourfold: stabilization, normalization, confidence
building, and reporting. He is already thinking about
tailoring the mission's structure to handle such sensitive
areas as the Enguri Dam and Georgian villages north of the
Enguri. Post notes the mission still has some wrinkles to
work out, including information flow between the mission and
its EU member country embassies in Tbilisi. End summary and
comment.

GETTING THINGS GOING


2. (C) In a briefing for EU member diplomatic missions, UN
agencies (including UNOMIG),the OSCE, and the U.S. Embassy,
Haber provided a detailed update on the EU Monitoring Mission
(EUMM),its progress getting established, its purpose and its
plans. Placing a priority on getting the monitors themselves
in country, the EUMM successfully placed 225 civilian
monitors -- 25 more than the 200 originally planned -- in
their posts by October 1. It will take a bit longer to get
all administrative support systems established, but Haber
expects to have 127 support staff in place by the end of
October (including 87 at the Tbilisi headquarters),as well
as 50 armored vehicles. Their communication systems,
provided by Sweden, are already good. Although the field
offices are doing well, the main headquarters in Tbilisi,
currently co-located with the OSCE, is suffering the most
gaps, with personnel for such areas as procurement,
logistics, interpretation, health care and accounting still
being selected. When fully staffed, the EUMM will include an
operations room, reporting officers, an analytical cell, and
three political advisors.


3. (C) Haber explained that the EUMM's primary partner within
the Georgian government would be the Interior Ministry, for
whom the mission would have three liaison officers. He noted
that careful coordination with the Georgian police will be
crucial leading up to Russia's presumed October 10 departure
from undisputed Georgian territory. and thereafter the
mission would continue to coordinate its movements in the
areas adjacent to South Ossetia with the police. He noted
that tension has been highest in the areas along the
administrative boundary, and therefore the final withdrawal
from that area of Russian troops, and the subsequent arrival
of Georgian police and the monitors, would therefore need to
be carefully orchestrated. The mission will also be
coordinating with the OSCE and UNOMIG in Georgia. Haber
called them "mutually reinforcing institutions, but made
clear that the three have different mandates and would
therefore maintain independence.


4. (C) The mission is also coordinating with Russian forces,
with General Kulakhmetov in the South Ossetia region and
Colonel Rogozin in the Abkhazia region. Haber suggested that
the Russians consider South Ossetia more sensitive and
therefore have more senior military officials there than in
Abkhazia. EUMM representatives have found Kulakhmetov to be
an inconsistent interlocutor; Haber described him as "frosty"
at times. Kulakhmetov's statements were apparently the
source of the September 30 press story that EU monitors would
not be allowed past Russian checkpoints on October 1 (the
monitors did in fact pass the checkpoints). Kulakhmetov has
also made a series of unreasonable demands in order for the
EUMM to have access to South Ossetia. Haber suggested he
would stay open to discussion of any proposals from the
Russian side, but would not accept any preconditions and
would continue to seek to fulfill the mission's mandate.

THE MANDATE


5. (C) Haber outlined the EUMM's basic mandate as having four
parts: 1) stabilization; 2) normalization; 3) confidence
building; and 4) reporting. To stabilize the situation,
Haber said the monitors would focus on the movements of
troops, on the work of police, and on irregular forces.

TBILISI 00001833 002 OF 002


Although the mission has no "executive mandate," he said the
monitors would try to observe these particular elements
carefully. To normalize the situation, the monitors would
try to help establish conditions that allow for the return of
the civilian population and Internally Displaced Persons
(IDPs). To build confidence, the monitors would look for
opportunities to undertake "transboundary tasks." One
example Haber offered was the cooperation of law enforcement
officials from the two sides. Finally, to cover the
mission's reporting responsibilities, Haber said his team
would seek to provide a steady stream of information to
Brussels, in particular leading up to the Geneva talks, and
to avoid gaps in the information. He noted this might be a
difficult task at times, considering a "troika" of EU
officials all working in same area: Haber himself, the EU
Special Representative for the Georgia Conflict Pierre Morel,
and EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus Peter
Semneby.


6. (C) Because of the special sensitivity of some areas,
Haber said the mission is considering some special
arrangements. He is considering setting up a satellite
office, run out of the Zugdidi field office, near the Enguri
Dam. The mission is also discussing ways to keep careful
tabs on the portions of undisputed Georgian territory north
of the Enguri River, such as Ganmukhuri and Khurcha, which
have seen considerable tension in recent weeks. Haber also
said the mission would eventually undertake night patrols,
because so many incidents are reported to have occurred at
night. He noted, however, that he is waiting for rules of
procedures on such steps from Brussels.

COMMENT: AN IMPRESSIVE EFFORT, BUT STILL SOME KINKS


7. (C) Sitting in a briefing given by an EU mission to
representatives of fellow EU member states was quite telling.
One ambassador asked to what extent the EUMM, rather than
bilateral embassies, would be providing support to the
citizens of that country; it was clear that the EUMM had not
yet discussed the issue at length with the bilateral
missions. When told that monitors' reports would be edited
in Brussels before they would be provided locally, a British
official, clearly suspicious, asked in what way the reports
would be edited, pointedly asking whether "really unpleasant
incidents" would be edited out. Although Haber and his team
have clearly done an impressive job getting a complex mission
up and running in a short time, they still have some work to
do to provide useful information in an efficient manner to
the outside world. End comment.
TEFFT