CYPRUS/NATO: EP REPORT PUTS GOVERNMENT ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NICOSIA 000150

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE, EUR/RPM

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/24/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR CY TU
SUBJECT: CYPRUS/NATO: EP REPORT PUTS GOVERNMENT ON
DEFENSIVE OVER PFP

Classified By: DCM Jonathan Cohen, Reasons 1.4 (b),(d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: A recently-approved European Parliament
(EP) report on EU-NATO relations has sent Cypriot President
Demetris Christofias and his Communist AKEL party into
another anti-Alliance tizzy. Of concern to the government
was a last-minute amendment, tabled by a right-leaning
Cypriot European Parliamentarian (MEP),calling on Cyprus to
review its opposition to, and apply for membership in, the
Partnership for Peace (PfP). Government spin-control began
immediately after the report's approval on February 19, with
Christofias claiming that PfP membership for Cyprus ran
counter to his vision of a demilitarized island. All parties
save AKEL have restated their support for PfP. Politically
cornered, Christofias and AKEL's opposition to the Alliance
likely will spike, making a Cypriot application to PfP even
more remote in the short- to medium term. END SUMMARY.

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Parliamentary Procedure Leaves Government Fuming
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2. (U) News of the pending European Parliament report broke
locally on February 19. Brussels-based Cypriot journalists
wrote that the study, penned by French MEP Ari Vatanen,
concerned the role of NATO within the security framework of
the EU. The EP's Foreign Affairs Committee had adopted an
amendment proposed by Cypriot MEP Yiannakis Matsis that
called on the RoC to reconsider its current stance and apply
for membership in NATO's Partnership for Peace. Pundits
predicted a close fight in the EP plenary; Cypriot MEPs were
divided, the two AKEL parliamentarians opposing adoption of
the report and the remaining four supporting it.


3. (SBU) Vatanen's report was endorsed on February 19 by a
vote of 293-283 with 60 abstentions. An accompanying EP
press release deplored that "the Turkey-Cyprus dispute
continues to badly impair the development of EU-NATO
cooperation, given that Turkey refuses to allow Cyprus to
participate in European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP)
missions involving NATO intelligence, while Cyprus refuses to
allow Turkey to engage in the overall development of ESDP to
an extent commensurate with Turkey's military weight and
strategic importance."

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Delight in Being Odd Man Out -- A Bit of Background
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4. (C) President Demetris Christofias's AKEL is Europe's
pound-for-pound champion Communist party. As AKEL Secretary
General, a post he abandoned only in January, Christofias
displayed a passion for NATO-bashing, blaming the
organization for many of the world's ills. Rhetorical levels
dropped only slightly his election to the presidency in
February 2008; in a November official visit to Moscow, the
Soviet-educated President basked in declaring himself
"Europe's Red Sheep," promised to promote in EU fora Russian
President Dmitry Medvedev's proposal for a new European
security architecture, and told the press that Cyprus would
have no links with NATO as long as he was around. Despite
Moscow's own membership in PfP, AKEL dogma remains rigid
towards the Alliance. In fact, in a 2007 meeting with
PolChief, newly-elected Secretary General Andros Kyprianou
claimed that AKEL's two strongest "OXIs" were NO to casino
gambling and NO to PfP. Kyprianou told media on February 24
that NATO violates international law and the UN charter, and
is "an aggressive organization that has scattered death and
destruction in many corners of the world."


5. (C) AKEL stands alone among mainstream Greek Cypriot
parties in its opposition to all things NATO. Coalition mate
EDEK, for example, long has included PfP membership among its
party priorities, while DIKO and opposition DISY also voice
support. In the run-up to the February 2008 elections, party
leaders and staff of both then-incumbent President Tassos
Papadopoulos and challenger Ioannis Kasoulides's campaign
teams promised us that, if elected, a PfP application would
come in the first six months in office -- although both men
predicted Turkey would veto it. Senior Greek Cypriot
National Guard officers as well as Ministry of Defense
officials also favor accession to PfP, seeing the Partnership
as vital to improve their force's capabilities and
inter-operability with European militaries.

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No Hesitation in Opposing

NICOSIA 00000150 002 OF 002


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6. (C) In the face of the Vatanen report's adoption,
Government Spokesman Stephanos Stephanou on February 19 said
that the government, "confronted with the ongoing Turkish
invasion and occupation and engaged in settlement talks,"
preferred to pursue demilitarization to filing an application
to join a "military organization." (Note: Christofias's
visible appearance February 20 at Russian Armed Forces Day
calls into question his ideological commitment to
demilitarization.) Stephanou further claimed that the
government would not seek PfP membership because the
President had not included the step in his election program.
Responding two days later to critics of his Partnership
stance who claimed that Cyprus was isolated in Europe and
AKEL isolated in Cyprus, Christofias argued the he felt no
pressures. "PfP is not a European institution, but a NATO
one. We are not bound to join." His ideologically-distant
predecessors Papadopoulos and Glafcos Clerides had opted not
to bring Cyprus closer to the Alliance, the President added.


7. (U) Opposition DISY and EUROKO as well as pro-government
EDEK and DIKO all shot back. DIKO leader and House President
Marios Karoyian called for Cyprus's PfP application soonest,
although he acknowledged the decision belonged solely to the
government. EUROKO spokesman Rikkos Erotokritou called on
"stubborn" AKEL to realize that Cyprus's non-participation in
the Partnership excluded it from exploiting strategic
advantages that arose from the island's geographic location.
EDEK faced a more difficult task in convincing the Cypriot
electorate that it continued to favor PfP even though it
apparently had not lobbied for the Vatanen report with fellow
European Socialists. DISY House Foreign Affairs Committee
Chairman Averof Neophytou was pushing for plenary discussion
regarding Cyprus's stance, according to media reports.

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Comment
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8. (C) Googling Christofias or Kyprianou's pre-2008 public
statements, one finds a trove of "NATO equals death," "Down
with imperialism," and "Yankee go home." While its rise to
power has tempered that message slightly, AKEL has not gone
the way of East Bloc Communist parties to become a Social
Democratic force -- the hammer-and-sickle still flies proudly
outside party HQ and East-West ideology remains square in the
party mantra. We therefore doubt AKEL would abandon its
anti-PfP stance even if overwhelming public opinion demanded
an application.


9. (C) Christofias's backbone has proven soft before,
however, most visibly during AKEL's flip-flop over support
for the 2004 Annan Plan. As for the party itself, AKEL not
only dropped its opposition to Cyprus's EU accession early in
the decade, but on two other occasions when it took
"principled" stands to satisfy the bases -- its 2007 campaign
against adopting the Euro, and its 2008 rejection of the
Lisbon Treaty -- the party did so knowing the measures would
pass regardless, owing to other parties' support for them.
There can be no such passing the buck on PfP, since
responsibility to file a membership would fall solely on
Christofias and his government.


10. (C) The Euros plausibly could up the pressure on Cyprus
to become a Partner, a la Vatanen, in hopes of improving
EU-NATO coordination. Even Cyprus ally Russia might want
another friend in PfP and urge Christofias to file. Were
Christofias to do a 180 and apply, and were Turkey to do the
currently unthinkable -- holster its veto and allow the bid
to succeed -- it would beg our honest assessment of whether
Nicosia's membership truly would improve cooperation between
the EU and NATO. The answer would surely depend on the
status of the Cyprus Problem talks and offers intriguing food
for thought.
Urbancic