Greece Supports EU Renewal of Belarus Sanctions and

C O N F I D E N T I A L ATHENS 001633

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
EUR/UMB FOR JOSEPH WANG AND EUR/ERA FOR RACHEL WOLFE
AMEMBASSY ANKARA PASS TO AMCONSUL ADANA
AMEMBASSY ASTANA PASS TO USOFFICE ALMATY
AMEMBASSY BERLIN PASS TO AMCONSUL DUSSELDORF
AMEMBASSY BERLIN PASS TO AMCONSUL LEIPZIG
AMEMBASSY BELGRADE PASS TO AMEMBASSY PODGORICA
AMEMBASSY HELSINKI PASS TO AMCONSUL ST PETERSBURG
AMEMBASSY ATHENS PASS TO AMCONSUL THESSALONIKI
AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK
AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL YEKATERINBURG

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/11/16
TAGS: PREL PHUM BO GR EUN
SUBJECT: Greece Supports EU Renewal of Belarus Sanctions and
Suspension

REF: STATE 112644

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


1. (C) PolOff met November 10 with Vassilis Tselios, Deputy Head of
the C1 EU External Relations Directorate, to discuss a coordinated
Belarus sanctions policy. Tselios - the Greek MFA's point person
for EU- Eastern partner affairs - noted that Greece does not have
an embassy in Minsk and therefore relies on information trickling
in from international organizations such as the OSCE and EU for an
assessment of the current conditions in country. Given the current
lack of improvement or reform on the part of Belarus, Tselios said
Greece is in favor of the status quo sanctions measures and
therefore will support the renewal of the sanctions against Belarus
and also the renewal of the suspension of these sanctions. In his
calculation, this combination will continue to create the right
amount of leverage for encouraging Belarus to enact reforms and
demonstrate respect for human rights and the rule of law. Tselios
estimated that the EU consensus decision on the issue would also be
to renew both sanctions and the suspension of sanctions against
Belarus through October 2010.
Speckhard