CYPRUS PLANS 50,000 EURO DONATION TO FIGHT SOMALI

C O N F I D E N T I A L NICOSIA 000713 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR, AF, PM, IO E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/05/2019 TAGS: PREL MAPS MARR TU CY SUBJECT: CYPRUS PLANS 50,000 EURO DONATION TO FIGHT SOMALI PIRACY REF: A. NICOSIA 537 ¶B. 11/04/09 FORAN-ALLISON E-MAIL Classified By: DCM Jonathan R. Cohen for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Cyprus MFA Acting Head of the Department of Common Foreign and Security Policy Helena Mina informed Poloff November 5 that Cyprus is prepared to donate 50,000 Euros to a trust fund for combating Somali piracy and asked if we had information about contribution mechanisms. (Note: MFA Political Director Rea Yiordamlis had raised the possible contribution with us in August (ref A) in the context of Cyprus's participation in the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS). End Note.) ¶2. (C) Post shared with Mina its understanding (ref B) that details for a trust fund were still being negotiated at the UN, and that as soon as they were finalized, we expected Japan would host a meeting in New York to elect a number of CGPCS states to manage the fund. Once a management board is in place, the fund should be ready to accept contributions for assistance to states prosecuting suspected pirates, and for other CGPCS initiatives. Mina replied that she would instruct GOC representatives in New York to be looking for related announcements. She also planned to inform the Japanese Embassy in Athens (Japan does not have an Embassy in Cyprus, but covers the island from Athens),which she said initially invited Cyprus to make a donation, about the ROC's 50,000 Euro pledge. URBANCIC