Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09BERLIN48
2009-01-14 12:40:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Berlin
Cable title:  

MEDIA REACTION: MIDEAST, RUSSIA, CLINTON, EU

Tags:  XF IS GZ RS UP US EU 
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R 141240Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY BERLIN
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 3036
INFO WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON DC
SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
DIA WASHINGTON DC
CIA WASHINGTON DC
DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
FRG COLLECTIVE
AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS 
AMEMBASSY LONDON 
AMEMBASSY PARIS 
AMEMBASSY ROME 
USMISSION USNATO 
USMISSION USOSCE 
HQ USAFE RAMSTEIN AB GE
HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE//J5 DIRECTORATE (MC)//
CDRUSAREUR HEIDELBERG GE
UDITDUSAREUR HEIDELBERG GE
UNCLAS BERLIN 000048 


STATE FOR INR/R/MR, EUR/PAPD, EUR/PPA, EUR/AGS, INR/EUC, INR/P,
SECDEF FOR USDP/ISA/DSAA, DIA FOR DC-4A

VIENNA FOR CSBM, CSCE, PAA

"PERISHABLE INFORMATION -- DO NOT SERVICE"

E.0. 12958: N/A
TAGS: XF IS GZ RS UP US EU
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: MIDEAST, RUSSIA, CLINTON, EU

UNCLAS BERLIN 000048


STATE FOR INR/R/MR, EUR/PAPD, EUR/PPA, EUR/AGS, INR/EUC, INR/P,
SECDEF FOR USDP/ISA/DSAA, DIA FOR DC-4A

VIENNA FOR CSBM, CSCE, PAA

"PERISHABLE INFORMATION -- DO NOT SERVICE"

E.0. 12958: N/A
TAGS: XF IS GZ RS UP US EU
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: MIDEAST, RUSSIA, CLINTON, EU


1. Lead Stories Summary

2. Israel-Hamas Conflict

3. Russian-Ukrainian Gas Dispute

4. Secretary-designate Clinton Hearing

5. EU Monetary Union



1. Lead Stories Summary

Editorials focused on the government's economic stimulus package and
gas conflict between Ukraine and Russia. While almost all papers
opened with reports on the fiscal plan to strengthen the economy,
two economic papers centered on Deutsche Bank's plan to buy a ten
percent stake in Deutsche Postbank. ZDF-TV's early evening newscast
Heute and ARD-TV's early evening newscast Tagesschau opened with
stories on the government's economic stimulus package.


2. Israel-Hamas Conflict

S|ddeutsche remarked that Israel "had planned the campaign against
Hamas for a long time. This included denying foreign journalists
access to Gaza six weeks ago without giving any reasons for it.
When the Israeli bombs fell, it was obvious that the attack on Hamas
was supposed to take place without independent journalists. To
avoid own losses of its own troops, Israel is using maximum force,
which must lead to a disproportionately high number of civilian
casualties in a densely populated area. It was clear what the
reports would look like: they would be devastating."

Frankfurter Allgemeine commented: "Olmert has no future as a
politician. Since he had to resign last September due to the
corruption allegations, he is only Israel's acting-prime minister.
This might be the reason why he is taking a tougher stance in the
war against Hamas than Foreign Minister Livni and Defense Minister
Barak, who both want his office in the next election. Ruthlessly,
like somebody who has nothing to lose, Olmert has now also
embarrassed the U.S. government. Was he just showing off when he
said that he called President Bush to tell him while he was
delivering a speech that the U.S. must not under any circumstances
vote in favor of the UN resolution for a ceasefire? .... This would
mean that Israel decides American Middle East policy. Even if that
is the case, Olmert should have kept quiet."


3. Russian-Ukrainian Gas Dispute

Deutschlandfunk commented: "Helplessness is slowly but gradually
spreading in Brussels. Both Russia and Ukraine will have to think

about how long they want to accept the growing loss of confidence by
the West. As long as EU monitors have no access to the pumping
stations, it will be difficult to assign blame for the problems.
But if Gazprom representatives are now including the United States
in the blame game and claim that the U.S. government is inciting
Ukraine to divert gas deliveries, then this would be the first clear
indication that we have to deal with a proxy war that focuses on
Ukrainian efforts to align its views with the West, something Moscow
does not like. But the government in Kiev must also accept charges
that it does not make things easier for the EU by permanently
accusing the Russians as the spoilsports from which it must free
itself. On the contrary, Kiev, too, is testing the EU and allows
growing doubts about whether states with arbitrary - political
strategies are welcome in the EU. There are still clear
deficiencies with respect to energy security for EU citizens. The
question is whether the pipelines should not have been filled in the
other direction, i.e. from West to the East to help the people in
the Slovak Republic, Romania, Bulgaria and elsewhere. Would that
not have been a sign of the energy solidarity that [politicians]
like to emphasize so often?"

According to Handelsblatt, "neither of the two rivals is willing to
show his hand. And this is not really a surprise, because this
conflict has been smoldering for years. However, it is surprising
how quickly Gazprom and Naftogas have forfeited their reputation.
Not even during the Cold War did we have a similar crisis. The EU's
naove approach to this new hot gas war is also surprising. The
Europeans wanted to resolve this problem with accountants and
monitors, but this is a problem that is highly political. The EU
needs a clear strategy or it will turn into the plaything of Russian
power interests or Ukrainian provocations."

Sueddeutsche Zeitung judged: "The issue is not whether Ukraine must
pay 175, 250 or 400 dollars for Russian gas. The core of the
conflict is the international control of the Russian-Ukrainian flow
of gas to the West. The latest developments are only evidence of
the enormous damage and distrust both Russia and Ukraine are now
inflicting on others. It is very difficult to judge who is right
and who is wrong but both sides have not done themselves a favor
with this. The EU must now feel confirmed in its efforts to reduce
its dependency on Russian gas, and the EU must wonder how reliable
Ukraine still is as a transit state."

Tagesspiegel argued: "Ukraine is now exploiting its authority over
important transit pipelines to negotiate favorable conditions for
its own gas supplies and for a clear increase in transit charges.
But by doing so, Ukraine is doing exactly what Russia is accusing it
of: It is taking its neighbors, who are dependent on gas, hostage,
thus forfeiting its reputation as a reliable partner."

Die Welt opined: "After this gas dispute, nothing will remain the
same in EU-Russian relations as it was before. Despite the
co-responsibility of Ukraine, it is inexcusable that Russia is now
taking entire national economies hostage. The EU must finally act
towards Gazprom with the degree of self-confidence which corresponds
to its position as most important customer. The EU must now create
a situation in which Russia is more dependent on European money than
Europe is on Russian gas."

Financial Times Deutschland editorialized: "The Russian-Ukrainian
fuss is now taking on grotesque dimensions, but the really worrying
thing is that neither Russia nor Ukraine have shown any willingness
to illuminate the obscurity that surrounds the gas supply question.
The Europeans will gain considerable influence on the transit across
Ukraine only if they take part in it. Now it is coming back to
haunt them that they no longer pursued efforts for a joint pipeline
consortium. Instead, German companies together with Gazprom backed
the project of an overpriced gas pipeline across the Baltic Sea in
which Russia has the control. It is time to talk about an
internationalization of the Ukrainian transit pipeline."

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung is of the opinion that "Ukraine's
leading politicians held back their accusations for more than two
weeks. This was obviously not an expression of the basic mood in the
country but a consequence of the orthodox Christmas celebrations.
After a good rest, opposition leader Yanukovich now announced the
next escalation step between Moscow and Kiev by revealing his plan
to oust the Timochenko government and President Yushshenko. The
Kremlin should be delighted at this. Russian Premier Putin could
hardly better illustrate to the West the consequences of a
democratic revolution."


4. Secretary-designate Clinton Hearing

Many German media reported on Senator Clinton's Senate hearing, but
do not carry editorials. ZDF-TV's Heute newscast noted this
morning: "Secretary of State-designate Clinton said during a Senate
hearing that she wants to renew the leadership role of her country.
Clinton told the Foreign Relations Committee that international
cooperation must be strengthened. Tagesspiegel also headlined
"Clinton wants to renew U.S. leadership role in the world."

Frankfurter Allgemeine's intro stated: "Secretary of State-designate
Clinton's return to the Senate was a moment of triumph.... American
diplomacy under her leadership will strive for nothing less than an
epochal change after eight years of Republican rule under President
George W. Bush.... The new chairman of the committee, Kerry, and
Secretary-designate Clinton highlighted that the fight for climate
protection will be a priority of the future U.S. foreign and
security policy."

In a brief report, S|ddeutsche headlined on the hearing that Clinton
prefers "diplomacy over the army," and adds: "The future U.S.
Secretary of State Clinton renounced its country's unilateral
diplomacy.... Clinton said she believes in the concept of smart
power; diplomacy will always have priority over military solutions."

Die Welt mentioned that "Clinton sharply warned Moscow" over the gas
dispute, quoting her as saying that Russia's gas policy is "a
significant security problem." She added that the State Department
will have an energy coordinator. The paper stated: "She said that,
given the seriousness of the situation, one needs a new framework to
discuss energy security with the Europeans." Die Welt commented
that "Her casual but deliberate reference on NATO Treaty's article
five was a statement of tremendous significance."

FT Deutschland highlighted that "Clinton starts with old friends,"
by "falling back on her husband's staff."


5. EU Monetary Union

Handelsblatt claimed: "The Monetary Union is faced with a conflict
between the European Central Bank (ECB) and the governments that it
has never experienced before. The looming conflict between the ECB
and politics will, however, be much more precarious. Since the ECB
determines the interest rate policy, it can make the state dance to
its tune. If the ECB wages an unrelenting battle against inflation,
the entire euro zone will suffer from the conflict between monetary
and finance policies. That is why the European Commission and the
member states must now see to it that such a conflict can be
avoided. Instead of closing their eyes and hoping for the best, all
member states should now agree on how to reduce growing budget
deficits to an acceptable degree. Only if the governments are
willing to do this, will the ECB be willing to accept a short detour
from the path of virtue and do without threatening gestures."

According to Financial Times Deutschland, "the euro is binding
countries to each other that differ in their competitiveness. But
with the financial crisis, the members of the Monetary Union are now
dangerously drifting apart. One reason for the widening gap is that
clear exchange rates between countries with different productivity
patterns have changed the relative competitiveness. While Germany
has gained a relative competitive advantage of ten percent since
1999, countries such as Italy have lost 40 percent as evidenced by
OECD figures on unit labor costs. During the first ten euro years,
the positive effects of the relatively low interest rates outdid the
negative influence of a disrupted competitiveness. But in a
recession, it will become much more difficult to gloss over cracks.
If the differences in interest rates of government bonds increase to
the level they had in 1999, speculation could arise that countries
could suspend their membership [in the monetary union]. ECB head
Trichet is rejecting such views as 'pipe dreams,' but leading
monetary experts said a few months ago that such a development
cannot be ruled out. 2008 was a difficult year for the monetary
union but the greatest challenges could still come in 2009."


KOENIG