Greece: IAEA General Conference

C O N F I D E N T I A L ATHENS 001431 SIPDIS AMEMBASSY BERLIN PASS TO AMCONSUL DUSSELDORF AMEMBASSY BERLIN PASS TO AMCONSUL LEIPZIG AMEMBASSY ATHENS PASS TO AMCONSUL THESSALONIKI E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/08/18 TAGS: AORC PREL PARM KNNP IAEA GR SUBJECT: Greece: IAEA General Conference REF: STATE 85128 CLASSIFIED BY: Alan S. Purcell, Acting Political Counselor; REASON: 1.4(B),(D) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY. Greece agrees with us that a single resolution on the Middle East is a smart goal for the IAEA General Conference, but is skeptical about Arab flexibility, given the previous year's close vote. Greece hopes for a unified EU position at the GC, and along with other EU members is presently coordinating its position in expert-level meetings in Brussels and among Vienna missions under a Swedish lead. According to our interlocutor, Sweden hopes to get a coordinated EU reply back to Arab League SYG Moussa's June note asking EU Foreign Ministers to support an Israeli Nuclear Capabilities resolution. The EU response would be brief and would push back against stigmatizing Israel. He characterized Greece's position as "middle of the road" within the EU, and not prone to buck an EU consensus. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) Pol-Mil Chief delivered reftel points to the MFA's Disarmament Sub-Section Head Loukas Tsokos. (Comment: At present, this sub-section is within the UN office in the MFA's International Organizations and Security Cooperation Directorate, but will increase in stature to become a stand-alone office in the coming months, and will be headed by an Ambassador-level director. End comment.) ¶3. (C) Tsokos expressed Greek support for a single Middle East resolution in September, and indicated that is the general mood within the EU, as well. He was doubtful, though, in the chances of pulling it off at the GC, predicting that last year's close vote would not leave Arab League members in a compromising mood, and noting that France had exerted great effort in its EU Presidency role last September toward a solution yet had still failed. He noted that experts from capitals, under a Swedish lead in Brussels, plan to agree by early September on a consensus reply to Arab League Secretary General Moussa's June note asking for EU support of the INC resolution. According to Tsokos, the initial Swedish draft was short and direct, sharing Moussa's views of a de-nuclearized Middle East, while pushing back against the stigmatization of Israel. ¶4. (C) He appreciated U.S. commitment to a solution, and noted the range of views within the EU on the Arab League's INC resolution. Greece was in the middle of the road, he said, and would not be a problem in reaching an EU consensus. While Greece does believe that some Arab concerns need to be addressed, Tsokos stated that Greece does not agree with initiatives that would cause unnecessary problems for Israel, and cause problems for the IAEA as an organization. The IAEA is a technical organization, he continued, and Greece does not want to allow any bad precedents to be set. He agreed with our view that a successful GC could build momentum for the 2010 NPT Review Conference. SPECKHARD