GREECE: SLOWROLLING NATO ENLARGEMENT?

C O N F I D E N T I A L USNATO 000080 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/27/2118 TAGS: NATO PREL MARR GR MK SUBJECT: GREECE: SLOWROLLING NATO ENLARGEMENT? REF: A. SG(2008)0116 ¶B. AC/119-WP(2008)0004 ¶C. SRB-N(2008)0001-REV2 Classified By: Ambassador Victoria Nuland for reasons 1.4 (b/d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: In what may represent an effort by Athens to change or slowroll Alliance accession procedures, Greece has delayed three key NATO documents for the Comprehensive Report on Enlargement which is due to NATO Foreign Ministers on March 6. While some of this may represent bureaucratic sludginess in Athens, we are watching closly for signs of a campaign to complicate A-3 invitations at Bucharest. END SUMMARY Including NATO Invitees in Defense Planning -------------- ¶2. (C) Greece broke silence on a routine but important document seeking Allied approval for involving NATO invitees in Defense Planning (REF A) after the Summit. The practice of including invitees in Defense Planning consultations is well-established. The February 26 break-of-silence letter from Greek Ambassador Stamatopoulos addresses none of the Defense Planning issues that the Defense Review Committee raised and upon which the DRC submitted recommendations. The SecGen responded on February 27 that Greece's concerns were adequately addressed by existing policy and practice, and circulated an explanatory document under a new silence procedure to expire the same day. We think the Greek paper is a marker for further discussion rather than an attempt to derail present work. Accession Process Revisions -------------- ¶3. (C) In a February 26 discussion in the Senior Political Committee, Greece's representative sought changes to an Accession Procedures paper that seem designed to add new conditions that an invitee nation might have to meet during accession talks. The document (REF B) updates the accession process agreed at the Prague Summit, and most delegations argued against any further changes. France, however, supported Greece and requested further unhelpful and unnecessary revisions. The result is a bracketed text that will be discussed again on February 29. Enlargement and NATO Common-Funded Programs -------------- ¶4. (C) On February 20, Greece requested a six-day extension of silence on a Senior Resource Board (SRB) paper on the Implications of Enlargement for Military Common-Funded Programs (REF C). While the SRB International Staff found "nothing at all unusual about this," as Athens frequently requests additional time for internal staffing on resource issues, it does seem to fit a pattern of obstruction of enlargement business. The IS expects silence to expire on February 27 without further discussion. NULAND