FSC APRIL 23: RUSSIANS BRANDISH "BLACKLIST" OF

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 USOSCE 000111 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR VCI/CCA, VCI/NRRC, EUR/RPM, EUR/PRA, SCA/CEN, SCA/RA, PM/WRA JCS FOR J5 OSD FOR ISA (PERENYI) NSC FOR DOWLEY USUN FOR LEGAL, POL CENTCOM FOR CCJ5-C, POLAD UNVIE FOR AC GENEVA FOR CD E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PARM PREL OSCE KCFE XG SUBJECT: FSC APRIL 23: RUSSIANS BRANDISH "BLACKLIST" OF VD99 VIOLATORS, UK AND OTHERS ASK FOR WIDER INVESTIGATION REF: STATE 39501 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Russia protested it did not want to be a mentor to participating States who may have violated the Vienna Document timelines for requesting inspections or evaluations, but other delegations asked the CPC to broaden the scope of the inquiry into violations. Several states have confessed they are on Russia's list, including the UK, which then countered by asking for a wider inquiry going back a year or two. Russia also blasted pS who failed to make timely request for transit visas for Vienna Document inspections or who provide erroneous applications. Serbia, Russia, and the U.S. again rehearsed their positions on possible U.S. defense cooperation with Kosovo. ¶2. (SBU) The draft decision to amend the OSCE MANPADS export control principles is only one country, Belarus, away from consensus. Germany intends to issue a revision of its Vienna document "quota race" proposal, but is not expecting rapid adoption of any decision. The latest and now condensed version of the Small Arms and Light Weapons Points of Contact decision gained wide support. The chair intends to leave the survey of suggestions from the 2008 Annual Implementation Assessment Meeting on the working group agenda, although she gave the usual caveat that it was the exclusive prerogative of pS to turn the suggestions into proposals for the Forum's adoption. Russia applauded her decision. End Summary. Kosovo Defense Cooperation: Round Three -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Serbia (Zaric) announced it too could not accept the U.S. decision that Kosovo was eligible for defense cooperation as Kosovo was not an independent state but still a province of Serbia (FSC.DEL/79/08). Zaric added that the Ahtisaari plan, referenced in the U.S. intervention at the April 16 FSC, was not accepted by the UN Security Council. ¶4. (SBU) The U.S. (Neighbour) replied by referring delegations to its April 16 FSC statement (FSC.JOUR/548 Annex) and April 3 Permanent Council statement (PC.DEL/245/08). The statements, Neighbour said, are still valid and did not need to be repeated. ¶5. (SBU) Russia (Ulyanov) reported it had sent the April 16 U.S. intervention to Moscow and studied it carefully. Ulyanov charged the U.S. remarks failed to address the Russian points on the UN Security Council resolutions or the OSCE norms, instead dealing only in generalizations. Ulyanov repeated his earlier claim that UNSCR 1367 contained provisions that still limit military assistance to Kosovo. Russia Foments Public Confessions -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Russia circulated a proposal for a chair's statement on violations of the timelines for requesting Vienna Document inspections or evaluations (paras 85 and 112) after describing at the April 16 FSC a list of 31 violators of the timelines in the last three months (FSC.DEL/75/08). Several states--Turkey, Germany, and the UK--admitted they were on what some half-seriously called the "blacklist" and agreed that more effort should be made to comply with the timelines. The UK (Gare),however, then asserted that a wider survey, perhaps going back a year or two, would help the Forum USOSCE 00000111 002 OF 004 determine if the recent spate of violations was just that or part of a longer trend. Gare has separately told the U.S. that her research indicates Russia is a conspicuous violator of the timelines. (Comment: These Russian violations presumably occurred over the longer time frame Gare references. End comment.) Gare also noted that most of the 31 violations were "quite close" to the timelines, only a few hours or a day out, the more egregious offenders forming a "much smaller group." While Turkey and Ukraine reported they were consulting with capitals, Slovakia, Germany, and the U.S. (Silberberg) opposed a chair's statement as unnecessary, while supporting continued discussion of the matter at the FSC. ¶7. (SBU) Russia (Ulyanov) replied that his draft chair's statement need not be adopted. It was intended to draw attention to the problem; perhaps assurances from pS that they will comply with the timelines will have the same effect. However, he asserted, it was time "to end this irregularity." Even a day, referring to Gare's observation that most of the violators were just a day outside the timelines, makes a difference, he scolded. He asked the chair to request the Conflict Prevention Center (CPC) to compile a list of violations during 2007. ¶8. (SBU) The CPC (Martyniuk and Kytomaki) is willing to compile the data, although it noted it is already available in the CPC annual and quarterly reports, albeit without the names of violating pS. The CPC could produce a survey of violations from 2002 without much difficulty. While most delegations said they would support an extended study with or without names of violators, Luxembourg and France argued against a "name and blame" exercise. Canada questioned why names of the countries should be hidden. The chair (Kaldas) announced she would refrain from tasking the CPC until delegations could continue the discussion at the next working group on April 30. Russia Wants Timely and Correct Transit Visa Requests -------------- -------------- ¶9. (SBU) Russia (Uskov) complained under Any Other Business about late requests for transit visas from pS seeking to transit Russia en route to another pS to be inspected under the Vienna Document. Uskov said the visa must be requested no later than ten days before the date of entry into Russia. Applications are to be made through Russian embassies or with the assistance of the Russian verification center. Russia reports a problem, too, with erroneous data on visa applications. Finland then thanked Russia for honoring its late request for transit visas to perform a Vienna Document inspection in Tajikistan. AIAM Survey of Suggestions -------------- ¶10. (SBU) In a reprise of previous chairs' efforts to stimulate discussion in the working group, the chair (Kaldas, Estonia) invited comment on the survey of suggestions from the 2008 Annual Implementation Assessment Meeting (FSC.AIAM/25/08/Corr.1). She warned that it remained the responsibility of delegations to turn the suggestions into Food-for-Thought papers and draft decisions. Russia (Ulyanov),supporting the chair's announcement that the list will remain on the working group agenda indefinitely, USOSCE 00000111 003 OF 004 recalled it had last year proposed a line-by-line assessment of the AIAM survey to whittle out the worthwhile ideas. (Comment: There was at the time little enthusiasm for the Russian approach. End comment.) Vienna Document Quota Race -------------- ¶11. (SBU) Belarus noted that the German proposal for meliorating the effect of the Vienna Document "quota race" (FSC.DEL/51.08) would curtail the passive quota of pS. The proposal would also reduce the element of surprise in the announcement of inspections and evaluations. Pavlov was skeptical that the proposal would actually resolve the problem of the quota race, and recommended further discussion of bilateral agreements and voluntary measures. Germany (Schweizer) welcomed further comment and will prepare a revision shortly. Referring to the chair's decision to keep the AIAM survey on the working group agenda, Schweizer noted the quota race proposal began as a suggestion at the AIAM. ¶12. (SBU) Separately, Schweizer told the U.S. (Silberberg) that the proposal was meant to stimulate discussion of the problem but probably would not reach consensus in its present version. Schweizer said the paper reflected Germany's belief that Russian demands for consideration of new measures in the Forum had to be met with something other than mere refusal. He acknowledged that the paper would not eliminate the quota race. The U.S. is discussing with Schweizer its concerns over the proposal per reftel. MANPADS -------------- ¶13. (SBU) The draft decision amending the OSCE MANPADS export control principles to include recent changes to the Wassenaar Arrangement elements apparently lacks only agreement from Belarus, awaiting instructions, before it can be referred to the plenary (FSC.DD/5/08). Illicit Air Trafficking of SALW -------------- ¶14. (SBU) France (Fournier) announced it and co-sponsor Belgium would wait until May 7 for additional comments before it prepared a revision of the draft decision calling for a questionnaire and Best Practice Guide on national regulation of air transport of SALW (FSC.DEL/62/08). SALW Points of Contact -------------- ¶15. (SBU) Denmark revised the draft decision for SALW Points of Contact in light of German and others' comments on an earlier version. The latest version describes a "directory" vice a "network" or "system" and includes a simplified "annex" of provisions in place of the earlier "terms of reference." There is wide support for the latest version (FSC.DD/2/08/Rev.1). USDEL intends to join consensus at the next working group on April 30 unless otherwise instructed. Working Group B's 300th -------------- ¶16. (SBU) The chair (Kaldas) announced that Working Group B USOSCE 00000111 004 OF 004 was meeting for the 300th time. In response to her question, retired Italian Air Force Brigadier Pierpaolo Tempesta, now representing the Holy See, admitted he had also attended the first meeting of the group. Next Meeting -------------- ¶17. (U) The FSC will meet again on April 30. SCOTT