CORFU MINISTERIAL: LATVIA AGREES BUT WITH CONCERNS

C O N F I D E N T I A L RIGA 000324

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/06/2019
TAGS: OSCE PREL NATO PGOV LG
SUBJECT: CORFU MINISTERIAL: LATVIA AGREES BUT WITH CONCERNS

REF: SECSTATE 57920

Classified By: CDA Bruce Rogers for reasons 1.4 b


1. (C) Latvia agrees with USG goals for the Corfu
Ministerial, but expressed concern about implying that the
OSCE had "failed" in it's response to events in Georgia in
August. Juris Pekalis, head of MFA's European Security and
NATO division, largely agreed with the idea of focusing on
existing institutions and with the suggested areas in which
the OSCE could be made more effective. He reported receiving
a similar demarche from the German embassy. However, Pekalis
did express concerns. In particular, he rejected the
implication that the August conflict in Georgia should be
characterized as an OSCE failure, or even an example of
less-than-optimal performance, which could imply that the
blame did not fall fully on Russia's shoulders. He was
insistent that one could not say the OSCE had done anything
wrong when one country had simply chosen to behave poorly.
Less vehemently, Pekalis expressed some reservations about a
truly "open-ended" discussion, and suggested the idea of the
OSCE anniversary conference in Helsinki next summer as a
potential target date for deliverables on any proposed
changes to the OSCE.
ROGERS