EUROPEAN SECURITY PROPOSAL: GERMANY FAVORS FOCUS

C O N F I D E N T I A L BERLIN 000694 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/09/2019 TAGS: OSCE PREL EU NATO PGOV SUBJECT: EUROPEAN SECURITY PROPOSAL: GERMANY FAVORS FOCUS ON CRISIS PREVENTION AND RESOLUTION OF FROZEN CONFLICTS REF: STATE 57920 Classified By: POLITICAL MINISTER COUNSELOR JEFF RATHKE. REASONS: 1.4 ( B) AND (D). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY. Germany largely supports the U.S. proposal for launching a constructive dialogue on European security within the OSCE at the Corfu ministerial, but warns against a comprehensive review of existing commitments or an effort to beef up the human dimension. Instead, Germany favors a dialogue focused on the political-military dimension that seeks to improve crisis prevention and facilitate the resolution of frozen conflicts. Germany is concerned that the dialogue be sufficiently developed by the time of the Athens Ministerial in December, especially considering the questionable skills and commitment of the incoming Kazakh OSCE chairman-in-office. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) Post presented reftel points to MFA OSCE Office Director Margit Hellwig-Boette on June 8, laying out the U.S. vision for launching a positive, wide-ranging dialogue on European security at the upcoming informal OSCE ministerial in Corfu. Hellwig-Boette was joined by her deputy Karin Goebbel and NATO desk officer Ludwig Blaurock. ¶3. (C) While largely supporting the U.S. way ahead, Hellwig-Boette opposed any efforts to pre-coordinate a common position at NATO and raised concerns about our proposal to begin with a discussion of existing commitments and a review of how well they are being fulfilled. She argued that such a comprehensive review would lead to endless discussion and debate about past history and would practically ensure that the dialogue is ultimately unsuccessful. ¶4. (C) Similarly, Hellwig-Boette thought that a review of the human dimension and striving for new initiatives in this area could lead to a "status quo minus" result by giving the Russians an opening to question the existing "acquis". She noted that there is already an OSCE process in place that provides for an annual review of a member state's fulfillment of its human rights obligations. Instead, Hellwig-Boette thought it would be more useful for the dialogue to focus on the political-military dimension and specifically on preventing crises and resolving frozen conflicts. She thought that the Forum for Security Cooperation (FSC),if further developed, was one promising way to help the OSCE achieve this. ¶5. (C) Finally, while accepting that the dialogue should not be subjected to arbitrary deadlines or pre-determined results, Hellwig-Boette was concerned that it be sufficiently developed by the time of the Athens Ministerial in December. Otherwise, success of the dialogue would be too dependent on the questionable skills and commitment of the incoming Kazakh OSCE chairman-in-office. Koenig