E.U. AMBASSADOR DETAILS EUROPEAN ASSISTANCE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 YEREVAN 000874 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/29/2018 TAGS: PREL PGOV EAID KDEM AM SUBJECT: E.U. AMBASSADOR DETAILS EUROPEAN ASSISTANCE INTENTIONS IN ARMENIA YEREVAN 00000874 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: AMB. Marie L. Yovanovitch, reasons 1.4 (b,d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: European Commission Ambassador Raul de Luzenberger offered a readout of EC External Relations Director General Eneko Landaburu's Yerevan visit, and the shape of EU political and assistance priorities, during the Ambassador's introductory call October 23. In an initiative to be unveiled during President Sargsian's November 4 trip to Brussels, the EC will embed nine senior technical advisers to work with Armenian government agencies as part of the European Neighborhood Policy beginning January 2009. The advisors will come initially on a 4-6 month trial basis, with the hope to extend another 12 months beyond that. The EU is still pressing for further action on democracy and HUMAN rights issues, post-March 1. If PACE decides to suspend Armenia's membership, which is very possible, the EU will actually increase its technical assistance, as a means to help Armenia remediate its problems and create a carrot to deter Armenian dis-engagement from Europe. END SUMMARY ¶2. (C) SOFT-SPOKEN, BUT EFFECTIVE: The Ambassador had her first one-on-one conversation with the European Commission delegation chief of mission, Ambassador Raul de Luzenberger, on October 16. De Luzenberger had said little in previous meetings, which included other European ambassadors, but in this format proved thoughtful, well-informed about the local political scene, and forthcoming. ¶3. (C) E.C. DIRECTOR GENERAL PRESSED DEMOCRACY AGENDA: European Commission Director General for External Relations Eneko Landaburu had renewed EU concern about consequence of the March 1 events and imperfect progress on remediating those problems during his October 16 Yerevan visit. The EC was supportive of PACE efforts to work with Armenia on addressing these challenges. Landaburu had also said that, longer-term, the EU's goal was to make concrete steps to build closer relations between Armenia and Europe. This will not happen overnight, but will be built graduallly. De Luzenberger noted that Europe competes with Russia, in some sense, for influence and attention in Yerevan. ¶4. (C) PUTTING MEAT ON THE ENP BONES: Long in the gestation, the European Neighborhood Policy program with Armenia will soon become more "real," as the European Commission appoints nine senior policy advisers to be embedded in the Presidency and key ministries and state agencies, such as Customs, Transportation/Communications, Energy, and the HUMAN RIGHTS Defender (Ombudsman). The EC is putting real effort into getting well-qualified senior European experts in the various fields, who can be effective in moving Armenian policy, legislation, and regulation closer to European standards. These new EC advisers will arrive in mid-January for four-to-six month initial trial periods. If all goes well, the hope is that the advisers would be extended for an additional year, for total tour lengths of 16-18 months. There is a possibility for more "permanent" advisers to follow after that. De Luzenberger said this was all part of a long-term plan to improve Armenian-European relations and deepen cooperation. The EU Ambassador noted that this initiative will be the centerpiece of President Serzh Sargsian's November visit to Brussels. Otherwise, the visit is expected to be mostly a "courtesy call," although there will be a general press release commending Armenia's economic performance and exhorting more action on the political side. ¶5. (C) MARCH 1 VIOLENCE A "TOTAL SHOCK": De Luzenberger commented that the political clashes March 1 had been a "total shock" for Armenian society. It had taken some months for this shocked reaction to dissipate, however de Luzenberger believed that Armenians have by now gotten past this initial reaction and returned largely to a sense of normalcy and equilibrium. He said that the EU and other European institutions continue to press the GOAM on repairing the damage from the March 1 events, especially by releasing jailed opposition figures. He said this was necessary to "end the story" and "turn the page" from the political crisis of March 2008. He commented that the European Union had in some sense allowed the Parliamentary Assembly of the COUNCIL of Europe (PACE) to take the lead on these issues, given that PACE and its HUMAN RIGHTS Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg had been quite seized of the issue and issued constructive resolutions prescribing a way forward. (NOTE: The Slovene EU Presidency had also issued a statement on behalf of the EU in March 2008 which was also quite constructive in highlighting the challenges and some proposed solutions to the crisis. End note) ¶6. (C) AWAITING A PACE DECISION: PACE has announced that it will next consider the question of Armenia's possible suspension from the organization at its January sesson. In YEREVAN 00000874 002.2 OF 002 the meantime, Hammarberg continues to visit Armenia periodically, and gather information to present to the PACE session; Hammarberg's next Yerevan visit is expected the second half of November. De Luzenberger thought there remained a real possibility that PACE would decide to suspend Armenia's PACE membership in protest of the flawed election and post-election violence. He said that the EU would have some decisions to make on how to respond to such a decision, but thought it likely that EC assistance might actually increase in such a situation. This would both demonstrate that Europe as a whole was not turning its back on Armenia or driving it into the arms of Russia, and would also provide resources to facilite the political remediaton work. YOVANOVITCH