GREECE LOOKS TO SUPPORT CYPRUS JOINING CONTACT GROUP ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L ATHENS 000551 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/04/09 TAGS: MARR MOPS PREL PTER GR CY SUBJECT: GREECE LOOKS TO SUPPORT CYPRUS JOINING CONTACT GROUP ON SOMALI PIRACY REF: ANKARA 385; NICOSIA 14 CLASSIFIED BY: Deborah McCarthy, DCM; REASON: 1.4(B),(D) Summary -------------- ¶1. The leading Greek MFA participant in the Contact Group on Somali Piracy (CGSP),Ambassador Tryphon Paraskevopoulos, has asked us to find a way to bring Cyprus into the CGSP in spite of Turkish objections. Paraskevopoulos argued that Cyprus met the criteria for membership, and that a rejection of its membership application would politicize the CGSP. Based on his discussions with U.S. delegates to CGSP meetings, Paraskevopoulos said he was eager to find a mechanism to resolve this issue. End Summary. Looking to Get Beyond Haggling over Membership -------------- -------------- ¶2. (C) The head of the Greek delegations to both plenary meetings of the CGSP, MFA UN and International Organizations Director Tryphon Paraskevopoulos, asked to meet us April 6 on a way to bring Cyprus into the CGSP in spite of Turkish objections (ref A). Paraskevopoulos said Cyprus was one of six countries seeking admission to the CGSP; allowing Turkey to block Cyprus while the other five countries entered would undermine the CGSP's non-political nature. He said that Turkey had made similar objections to Cyprus in numerous other international bodies, but he argued that once an organization had established a precedent of Cypriot participation, the problems typically disappeared. He underscored Greek support for international anti-piracy efforts, including through the Contact Group and EU and NATO naval operations, and said he hoped these efforts could be insulated from political quarrels that had nothing to do with fighting piracy. Pleased with U.S. Role -------------- ¶3. (C) Paraskevopoulos noted he had consulted closely with the U.S. delegations at both CGSP meetings, in New York in January and Cairo in March, and he was satisfied that of all the CGSP members the U.S. was the most serious about trying to find a solution to membership issues. He was pleased that the U.S. had removed language from its original paper for the January CGSP meeting that would have required consensus for the admission of new members, something that would have given Turkey a formal veto over Cyprus. In Cairo, however, the U.S. had proposed a consensus requirement. Paraskevopoulos speculated that the motivation for this might have been to ensure that countries such as Iran or Syria would not be able to join the CGSP against U.S. wishes. Paraskevopoulos said that in Cairo he had suggested to the U.S. delegates one possible way out, at least for the current round of aspirants: an arrangement under which the U.S. (acting as the CGSP's secretariat) would propose to the whole CGSP those countries that it determined met the criteria. Members would still be free to accept or reject any country, but such an objective assessment by the U.S. would put moral pressure on members not to oppose individual aspirants for political reasons. Paraskevopoulos said he could understand that the U.S. might not want to assume this responsibility on its own, and he expressed a willingness to support any alternative ideas the U.S. might have to get around this problem. Believes Cyprus Meets Criteria -------------- ¶4. (C) Paraskevopoulos noted that the CGSP had said it would draw members from those countries significantly affected by piracy and significantly contributing to the fight against piracy. He said it was clear to him that Cyprus qualified on both counts. On the first point, he said that Cyprus had the tenth largest merchant marine in the world, and the second largest in Europe, giving it an obvious stake in preventing the threat of piracy to commercial shipping. On the second point, he noted that Cyprus had contributed officers to the EU's Operation Atalanta, both at the headquarters in Northwood, England, and in Brussels. He added that he had also heard from a German colleague that Cyprus was considering contributing to an international trust fund on the issue. While this was not as large a contribution as Greece or some other countries in the CGSP, Paraskevopoulos said it was significant for a small country, and he believed it was on par with the contributions of some other CGSP members. SPECKHARD