DAYTON ARTICLE IV: CONTACT GROUP SUPPORT FOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L USOSCE 000169

SIPDIS

STATE FOR VCI/CCA, VCI/NRRC, EUR/RPM, EUR/PRA, EUR/CARC,
SCA/CEN, SCA/RA, PM/WRA, ISN/CPI
NSC FOR HAYES, MCFALL, DAVIDSON, HOVENIER, SHERWOOD-RANDALL
OSD FOR ISA (WALLENDER)
JCS, EUCOM, USAREUR AND CENTCOM: FOR J-5

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/20/2015
TAGS: BK HR KCFE MW OSCE PARM PREL SR XG
SUBJECT: DAYTON ARTICLE IV: CONTACT GROUP SUPPORT FOR
GIVING OWNERSHIP OF CSBM TO BALKANS

REF: A. USOSCE 000073

B. USOSCE 000084

Classified By: Chief Arms Control Delegate Hugh Neighbour for reasons 1
.4(B)&(D)


1. (C) Summary: The Dayton Article IV Contact Group (CG) met
July 8 with the OSCE Personal Representative for Dayton
Article IV (PR),Italian Brigadier General Costanzo Periotto
and his staff, to discuss the PR's proposal for the ownership
plan. This envisions a multi-year gradual transfer of
technical and administrative responsibilities to the Dayton
Article IV parties. After Russia expressed apprehensions
regarding the pace and expense during a CG meeting in June,
Periotto traveled in early July to the Balkans get consent
for his plan from the Parties to the agreement (Bosnia,
Croatia, Montenegro, and Serbia). The PR's trip resulted in
unanimous support for the plan from all Dayton Article IV
countries. This appears to have assuaged Russian concerns.


2. (C) The Contact Group (France, Italy, Germany, Russia, UK
and the U.S.) offered tentative consensus in support of
Periotto's proposal at its July meeting and is in the process
of drafting a joint letter to the PR to formalize support for
the PR's vision on future of the Dayton Arms control regime.
The Contact Group now plans to meet on July 22 regarding the
joint letter. Action request in paragraph 10. End Summary.

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Background
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3. (SBU) Background note: Dayton Article IV was established
in 1996 and is patterned after the Treaty on Conventional
Armed Forces in Europe. It is a successful arms control
regime under the auspices of the OSCE for what now are four
states of the former Yugoslavia: Bosnia and Herzegovina, the
Republic of Croatia, Montenegro, and the Republic of Serbia.
The Dayton Article IV Contact Group consists of OSCE mission
representatives from France, Italy, Germany, Russia, the
United Kingdom, and the United States. The CG meets
periodically to discuss national positions and concerns
regarding the Dayton Article IV process and makes
recommendations and provides advice to the PR regarding
Article IV operational and implementation issues. End note.


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Periotto's Balkan Readout
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4. (C) In a July 8 meeting with the Contact Group (CG),the
OSCE Personal Representative for Dayton Article IV BG
Periotto informed the CG of the outcome of his recent trip to
Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, to discuss
with key Balkan representatives the future of the Dayton
Article IV arms control regime. The Parties had previously
expressed some reservations regarding the ownership plan at
the 42nd Sub-Regional Consultative Commission (SRCC) in
March, whereby all parties sought to avoid a rapid transfer
of responsibilities (Ref A and B). Periotto informed the CG
that the parties to the Dayton IV agreement were now,
however, unanimous in their intentions to take on greater,
but more gradual ownership of the administrative and
technical aspects of the agreement.



5. (C) With the unanimous support of the four Balkan states,
the CG expressed broad support for the PR's approach. The
Russian representative indicated he would recommend to Moscow
that Russia support the plan but said that he believes more
editing of the draft CG letter to the PR is necessary.
(NOTE: The Contact Group's joint statement to the PR
regarding the ownership plan remains in draft form but is
intended to reflect the unanimous support from CG countries
for the PR's way forward. It will be discussed among Contact
Group representatives on 22 July. END NOTE.)

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Moscow's Initial Hesitation
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6. (C) During a June 19 CG meeting, the Russian
representative (Balakin) had expressed Moscow's concerns with
the pace and cost of the PR's ownership plan, specifically
that it could add greater economic burdens to the Parties in
the midst of the current financial crisis. He said that
Russia, before endorsing the plan, wanted to ensure that the
four Parties to the agreement were onboard with the PR's
proposal and were willing to gradually absorb the remaining
technical and support responsibilities. The Russian concerns
motivated Periotto's 29 June ) 3 July trip to the region
during which he acquired the support of all Parties. As a
result of the trip several press releases were issued
highlighting the broad support for the ownership plan
throughout the Balkans and this overcame Russia,s initial
hesitations.

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The Plan: Very Gradual Transfer, No Fixed Timetable
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7. (SBU) The PR's ownership plan has two phases. The first
is a gradual effort to transfer more substantive ownership
issues such as formulating inspection plans, analyzing
inspection results and conducting the annual data exchange,
as well as providing support functions such as interpretation
and administrative support for several Article IV conferences
every year. The Office of the OSCE Personal Representative
would correspondingly reduce its roles and responsibilities
during this transition. The first phase is likely to take
several more years and no fixed timetables or defined
milestones are included in the PR's plan. After the first
phase is deemed successful and the political and military
situation in the region is considered mature, the second
phase could be initiated which would then transfer full
autonomy to the Parties.

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Comment
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8. (C) COMMENT: The PR's ownership plan, which has now been
approved by the Dayton Article IV Parties themselves, is an
appropriate path forward to increased ownership of
responsibilities for the Parties to the accord: cautious,
gradual, and conditioned, but forward moving. The plan
outlines a secure avenue to slowly transfer technical and
administrative duties to the states which already shoulder
much of the responsibility for this arms control and
inspection regime.



9. (C) The proposed Contact Group letter to Periotto, which
is currently in draft penned by Germany, intends to endorse
the PR's proposal and recommend the same gradual and cautious
approach to a transfer of ownership with appropriate
conditions and no fixed timetables. We believe that the
Parties were reluctant to take on more responsibility at the
March SRCC in part because of additional expense, but more
likely because of what they perceived as a rapid transfer of
responsibilities and a near-term disengagement of
international support to the Dayton Article IV regime. This
was never the intention of the PR's plan and this has since
been clarified to the Parties. We believe Periotto's
cautious and prudent plan merits support. END COMMENT.

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Contract Group Letter of Support
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10. (C) Action request: Mission recommends supporting the
PR's approach because it is consistent with the longstanding
U.S. position of cooperation with and support of the PR and
the Dayton Article IV countries. In addition, the Contact
Group will meet on July 22 to discuss the text of a proposed
draft letter (prepared by Germany) from the Contact Group
countries to Periotto in support of the PR's approach. Post
has e-mailed a copy of this draft to Washington. Please
provide guidance or views. End action request.
Scott