Greek Views on October 2009 GAERC

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/10/23
TAGS: PGOV PREL EUN GR CE GV
SUBJECT: Greek Views on October 2009 GAERC

REF: ELIZABETH KONICK EMAIL 10/17/2009

CLASSIFIED BY: Alan Purcell, Acting Political Counselor; REASON:
1.4(B),(D)


1. (C) On October 23, Poloff discussed ref points on U.S.
positions on the October 26-27 GAERC with Niki Kamba, European
Correspondent in the MFA A11 Security and Defense Policy (ESDP)
Division. Kamba said the EU paper on Afghanistan/Pakistan had
already been approved by all member states at the working level,
and would be functional and more technical in nature rather than
broadly strategic. Kamba noted that the GAERC would not focus on
visa liberalization in the Western Balkans but would spend time
discussing a political resolution in Bosnia. On Middle East peace
talks, Kamba said Greece saw the U.S. as taking the lead but
suggested the EU and other actors take a greater role if current
talks fail.




2. (C) AFGHANISTAN/PAKISTAN/IRAN: Kamba said the Afghanistan
paper was very technical, focused on specific initiatives, and had
already been pre-approved by EU member states. She noted that the
paper would have a regional component, with a section on Pakistan,
but that this section would include general points on the rule of
law, good governance, and democracy--and no hard numbers or
detailed objectives. On EUPOL in Afghanistan, Kamba said EU states
were "very engaged" and were actively working on incentives so
police officers would accept tours in Afghanistan. On assistance,
Kamba stated that the EU had no plans to route assistance through
the Afghani government at this point, but shared the U.S. goal of
transitioning development assistance to an Afghan-led
process--first by building up government institutional capacity,
and then by working more closely through the government. On Iran,
Kamba said the Greek position hadn't changed--preferring that
sanctions, if necessary, be determined in a UN process, but willing
to go along with any EU final consensus in the end.




3. (C) WESTERN BALKANS: Kamba pointedly noted that discussions on
the Republic of Macedonia would not be on the GAERC agenda. She
also said principals would not spend time discussing visa
liberalization, and would instead focus on the political process in
Bosnia. Greece fully supports U.S.-EU cooperation on Bosnia, Kamba
said, but wants to see the OHR wound down, with a transition to a
Bosnian-led, "truly autonomous" government. Kamba stated that,
with OHR, it would be "hard" for Greece and for the EU to move
forward on Euro-Atlantic integration for Bosnia. Kamba also raised
the importance to Greece of constitutional reform in Bosnia, saying
that without a more effective governing structure, Bosnia would be
"left behind."




4. (C) MIDDLE EAST PEACE: Kamba expressed Greece's full support
for U.S.-led efforts to restart negotiations, but suggested that
the EU could play a bigger role--especially if U.S.-led efforts
failed to show progress. Kamba noted that the Swedish EU
Presidency had circulated a non-paper on what the EU might do once
peace negotiations had concluded, and was already preparing "rather
optimistically" for the next stage in Middle East relations. Kamba
said the EU should still have a role helping put pressure on Middle
East actors during the current stage, and suggested that the
EU--and Greece--could help press moderate Arab states. Responding
to a question on Greece's previous offers to act as a Middle East
"broker," Kamba replied that while in theory Greece had good
relations with Arab states and could act as an intermediary, in
practice the Greek government had no established mechanisms or
clear ideas on how this might work.




5. (C) SRI LANKA / GUINEA: Kamba said the EU continued to be
concerned about the detention of internally displaced persons
(IDPs) in Sri Lanka and the GAERC would issue humanitarian
conclusions on the situation there. Kamba also added that EU
member states had agreed in principle on sanctions in Guinea,
including an arms embargo and a visa ban and financial sanctions on
specific coup leaders. The details, Kamba said, would be discussed
at the GAERC.
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