UKRAINIAN-GERMAN RELATIONS ON THE ROCKS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KYIV 000465

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/11/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL GM UP
SUBJECT: UKRAINIAN-GERMAN RELATIONS ON THE ROCKS

Classified By: Ambassador William Taylor for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Contacts within the Presidential Secretariat, MFA and
Cabinet of Ministers continue to view Germany as an obstacle
in their drive towards EU and NATO membership, while
underlining the importance of maintaining a constructive
bilateral relationship with Berlin. The Secretariat claims
Berlin has turned down President Yushchenko's overtures for
an invite, requiring signs of unity between him and PM
Tymoshenko as a precondition. German Embassy staff remain
engaged on a series of bilateral issues, but describe an at
times difficult relationship with the MFA. The cumulative
bilateral stresses were brought into focus by former National
Security and Defense Council Chairman Horbulin, who recently
gibed to us: "there are two Russian embassies in Kyiv; only
one speaks German." End Summary.

Presidential Secretariat Regrets Lack of Engagement
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2. (C) Bohdan Yaremenko, Deputy Head of the Presidential
Secretariat Foreign Policy Section, on March 11 told us that
it was "no secret" that relations with Berlin were strained.
He noted that Berlin had set GOU unity as a precondition for
a Yushchenko visit, wanting to avoid getting in the middle of
the ongoing fight between the President and PM Tymoshenko.
He said there were also signals from Paris that a Yushchenko
visit would not be welcomed until the GOU "spoke with one
voice." There is ongoing activity within lower level
bilateral working groups, but the lack of engagement at
senior levels risked harming the Ukraine-German relationship,
according to Yaremenko. He did note that Senior Presidential
Foreign Policy Advisor Honcharuk was headed to Berlin on
March 12.

MFA Hopes for More Positive Relationship
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3. (C) Andrii Kuzmenko, MFA Deputy Director for the Second
Territorial Directorate (which covers the EU and its
members),on March 4 described Germany's approach toward
Ukraine as "lacking in understanding." He said Berlin sees
the current levels and mechanisms of EU-Ukrainian interaction
as sufficient, while Kyiv sought to "deepen, strengthen, and
intensify" its engagement. He noted disappointment in
Chancellor Merkel's public comments regarding the Eastern
Partnership as not necessarily representing an avenue to
membership. In general, Ukraine views the Eastern
Partnership process as underfunded, with only euros 350
million in new funding available in 2010 to all six partners,
and lacking in specific goals. Kuzmenko noted that Ukraine
would have little interest in participating in the process in
the event it "keeps us standing in place, while Armenia,
Belarus, and Azerbaijan are slowly brought to our level."


4. (C) Kuzmenko's personal irritation with Berlin's current
approach was palpable, but he also highlighted the importance
of remaining engaged with Germany. He noted that Ukraine had
recently been invited as a formal observer to the "Weimar
Triangle" process that Germany and France developed with
Poland in the 1990s. Kuzmenko expressed hope that an avenue
for more positive engagement would open following Germany's
upcoming elections.

Cabinet of Ministers Guarded
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5. (C) Vadym Triukhan, Director of the Cabinet of Ministers'
Bureau of Euro and Euroatlantic Integration, told us that
both Germany and France had adopted a tough position on
Ukraine, not only in NATO in such issues as MAP, but also
within the EU. He cited the example of President Sarkozy
initially proposing an "Association Partnership" with Ukraine
in 2007, which was seen as a step backwards by Kyiv, before
subsequently agreeing to the more palatable "Association
Agreement" construct. Triukhan also noted that Germany was
the toughest within the EU regarding Ukrainian compliance
with standards on all international agreements -- citing the
ongoing talks on a visa regime and airspace deal.

German Embassy Defensive; Donetsk Consulate Planned
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6. (C) Our German counterparts were notably taken aback by
the series of sharp public attacks following the April 2008
NATO Summit when Germany was widely portrayed in the local
media as having blocked Ukraine's MAP application. A mass
demonstration by Party of Regions supporters in front of the
German Embassy in support of Berlin's stance in Bucharest
immediately after the Summit was an embarrassment to many of
our contacts within the German mission. Sigrun Meyer, Public
Affairs Counselor, recently told us that she and her

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colleagues were now used to being publicly attacked for
issues ranging from German visa issuances to Berlin's stance
in the latest gas crisis "as the GOU often needs us to hide
their own failings." She pointed out that Germany had
doubled its long-term work visas in the previous year and
eliminated their visa backlog, but that these developments
hadn't been widely reported by a media that had grown used to
negative portrayals of Berlin's bilateral efforts.


7. (C) The Foreign Ministry had recently decided to replace
their honorary consul in Donetsk with a consulate, focused on
business outreach and providing visa services for Eastern
Ukraine -- the announced opening of the consulate in 2010 had
the Embassy scrambling to complete staffing patterns,
property acquisition and other preparatory work, according to
Meyer. Meyer also highlighted the activities of her
Ambassador, Heinz-Juergen Heimsoeth, in participating with
several EU counterparts in a recent trip to Crimea. Germany
was refocusing its bilateral aid to concentrate in large part
on the peninsula, launching a series of programs to support
civic organizations in Sevastopol, Simferopol and other key
centers. (Note: Heimsoeth has been seen by some in the MFA
as a downgrading by Berlin. His previous posting was as CG
in New York and he had not previously held an Ambassadorial
post. Germany's previous Ambassador, Reinhard Schaefers, had
served as Berlin's EU Envoy prior to is Kyiv assignment and
is now serving as Ambassador in Paris.)

Working Around the MFA
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8. (C) Meyer indicated that MFA was viewed within the Embassy
as increasingly ineffective, requiring notes verbale for
basic requests and that officers were turning directly to
action Ministries and especially to Cabinet of Ministers
staff under DPM Nemyria to get timely action. Meyer wouldn't
speculate on whether it was a competence/experience question
within MFA Germany Desk or more of a targeted effort by the
MFA to signal their frustration with Berlin. She added that
Embassy personnel were increasingly frustrated by their
inability to receive clear answers or fully understand the
decision making process within the fractured political and
Ministerial landscape in Kyiv.

Comment
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9. (C) Germany's caution regarding Ukraine's EU/NATO
membership aspirations has engendered frustration within the
GOU. German diplomats in Kyiv reject the notion that Berlin
is too sensitive to Moscow's concerns in its relationship
with Ukraine. The Ukrainian political elite tends to feel
otherwise, as evidenced by the gibe former National Security
Advisor Horbulin recently shared with us: "there are two
Russian Embassies in Kyiv -- only one speaks German."
TAYLOR