Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09USOSCE226
2009-10-20 10:41:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Mission USOSCE
Cable title:  

OPEN SKIES: OCTOBER 19 PLENARY - 2ND REVIEW

Tags:  KCFE OSCE PARM PREL 
pdf how-to read a cable
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TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6646
INFO RUCNCFE/CONVENTIONAL ARMED FORCES IN EUROPE PRIORITY
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO PRIORITY 1753
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUESDT/DTRA-OSES DARMSTADT GE PRIORITY
RHMFISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC//J5-DDPMA-IN/CAC/DDPMA-E// PRIORITY
RUEAHQA/HQ USAF WASHINGTON DC//XONP// PRIORITY
RUEADWD/DA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEASWA/DTRA ALEX WASHINGTON DC//OSAE PRIORITY
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 USOSCE 000226 

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR VCI/CCA, EUR/RPM
NSC FOR NILSSON, HAYDEN
JCS FOR J5 NORWOOD, COL SMITH
OSD FOR ISA (KEHL, SCHWARTZ, ALBERQUE)

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KCFE OSCE PARM PREL
SUBJECT: OPEN SKIES: OCTOBER 19 PLENARY - 2ND REVIEW
CONFERENCE PLANNING UNDERWAY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 USOSCE 000226

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR VCI/CCA, EUR/RPM
NSC FOR NILSSON, HAYDEN
JCS FOR J5 NORWOOD, COL SMITH
OSD FOR ISA (KEHL, SCHWARTZ, ALBERQUE)

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KCFE OSCE PARM PREL
SUBJECT: OPEN SKIES: OCTOBER 19 PLENARY - 2ND REVIEW
CONFERENCE PLANNING UNDERWAY


1. (SBU) Summary: On October 6 and 19, the Open Skies
Consultative Commission (OSCC) held an extended plenary
meeting. The October 19 session included two Review
Conference preparation briefings on OSCE second dimension
environmental issues. The OSCC also adopted the Annual Quota
Distribution Decision for 2010. The October 6 meeting
adopted an update to the 2009 quota Decision to allow the
U.S. to share an observation flight with Romania over Russia
the week of October 12. After the plenary, the first meeting
of the newly formed Informal Working Group on Planning the
Review Conference (IWGPRC) was held to begin discussion of
the agenda and Final Document for the June 2010 meeting.

2. (SBU) The Informal Working Group on Sensors (IWGS) also
held a workshop the first week of October on visual analysis
methods for digital camera certification. The IWGS will meet
again during the week of December 7-11. On October 8, OSCC
States met to discuss the distribution of active quotas for

2010. As requested, the U.S. received 14 active quotas over
Russia, seven of which will be shared with partners. U.S.
reps also chaired the quarterly calendar de-confliction
session for States with quotas over Russia and Ukraine. The
next two plenaries will be held on November 23 and December

14. All meetings went smoothly with a spirit of
cooperation. End Summary.
REVCON planning

3. (SBU) At the 19 October OSCC Plenary, States agreed to
add a new plenary agenda item on Preparations for the Second
Review Conference. As Chair of the REVCON, we are conducting
outreach activities with relevant parts of the OSCE
Secretariat to ensure that other elements dealing with
crossover security issues are aware of the benefits of Open
Skies. This approach is intended to support the OSCE concept
of comprehensive security. Under this agenda item, the U.S.
introduced two guest speakers to discuss current OSCE issues
related to climate change and environmental projects.

4. (SBU) USDel (Neighbour) highlighted three goals in
bringing the briefings to the OSCC:
--to promote potential synergy between a variety of OSCE

crossover security issues and the Open Skies Treaty;
--to foster discussion to determine if Open Skies can make a
contribution toward addressing environmental issues,
including security issues related to climate change; and
--to enhance the functionality of the Treaty itself to better
serve the security concerns of its members.

5. (SBU) Romanian Ambassador Feruta provided comments on the
October 5-6 seminar on "Security Implications of Climate
Change." Documents from this seminar are available on the
OSCE web site at:
www.osce.org/conferences/eea 2009 climate.html. The
Ambassador said the outcome of the seminar exceeded their
expectations, and he believes the OSCE has a role to play in
the future. He said the seminar was a good opportunity to
show the potential of the Treaty and was a concrete way to
share information about Open Skies with environmental experts
outside the Treaty. He noted that Open Skies has served us
well to date, and welcomed this first step toward further
discussions on this approach.

6. (SBU) Mr. Slivanovic, Co-ordinator for the OSCE Office of
Economic and Environmental Activities provided a summary of
current environmental projects undertaken by the OSCE that
could benefit from Open Skies imagery products. OCEEA is
also interested in security aspects of critical
infrastructure protection and energy security. He noted
that security implications of climate change could be a
"threat multiplier" in some cases. He made three points
about the relationship between environmental issues and
security: 1) sometimes environmental issues can be the cause
for conflict; 2) when a conflict occurs, so will damage to
the environment; and 3) after a conflict takes place,
environmental projects are one of the ways the two sides can
cooperate together to move forward. The OCEEA remains
interested in a Ministerial Decision that provides a mandate
for further work in this area, previously blocked by one
delegation (Russia).
REVCON Planning Group Convenes

USOSCE 00000226 002 OF 003



7. (SBU) After the Plenary, the U.S. chaired the first
meeting of the newly formed Informal Working Group on
Planning the Review Conference (IWGPRC). The U.S. requested
that all delegations review the prior REVCON agenda and
Chairman's Statement, with a view to determining preferences
for the 2010 conference. Delegations agreed that it would be
important to have a Final Document or Declaration recording
the results of the REVCON. USDel recommended States consider
a transition plan to address sensors and aircraft.

8. (SBU) Financing future Treaty operations seems to be the
most common shared challenge facing States Parties. Some
wondered if an increased environmental focus would help or
hinder future financing. Several delegations noted that the
environmental subject is not new to Open Skies, and that it
was discussed at the last REVCON. Some also questioned
whether increased emphasis on environmental use of Open Skies
assets would detract from the primary mission of the Treaty
) arms control and CSBMs. Others urged continued focus on
the transition to digital sensors and new platforms.
Luxembourg summed up the preliminary discussion by posing the
question: "does climate change need Open Skies ) or does
Open Skies need climate change?" USDel asked States to do
some homework on these subjects in preparation for the next
IWGPRC to be held on 14 December.
IWGS Workshop Studies Target Data

9. (SBU) From 1-7 October, the Informal Working Group on
Sensors (IWGS) held a Visual Analysis Workshop to study the
procedures for certification of digital sensors
(OSCC.SEN/4/09). During the workshop, the group tested all
four proposed visual analysis "reading rules" use to
determine the resolution of digital sensors from test
imagery.

10. (SBU) The objective of the workshop was to exercise
provisions of Revision One to Decision Fourteen - the Video
Digital Sensor Decision with the four proposed "reading
rules" and gather enough statistical information to help
answer outstanding issues within this decision. In addition
to choosing an agreed "reading rule" for the draft decision,
two other significant issues remain open: 1) the number of
data points required in the pre-certification data package
and 2) the design of the resolution target used for baseline
sensor performance. Currently, these items are all
interlinked.

11. (SBU) The workshop was successful. The results
(including statistical data on all four visual analysis
reading rules) have been posted to the IWGS Folder on the
OSCE website. In order to move forward on several of the
digital imagery questions, delegates discussed the merits of
establishing a standardized Open Skies visual resolution
target (i.e., a detailed target requirement). Both the
United States and Russia currently use targets with 3-bar bar
groups. Several nations use targets with 2-bar bar groups.
IWGS members generally agree that the target type (2-bar vs.
3-bar) influences the Hmin value calculated at certification.
In addition, the U.S. and Russia agreed that the use of a
common target for use by all States Parties for
pre-certification data collection and certification events
would provide the most reliable, consistent, and
cost-effective results for all Parties.

12. (SBU) Comment: USDel understands that moving forward on
the digital sensor decision remains a key policy priority.
The IWGS Chair has stated that a "common target" would
simplify Revision One to Decision 14. In order to prepare
for the December IWGS meeting, recommend consideration be
given toward advancing proposals for establishing a Standard
Target (a three-bar design) at a European location (to be
determined) for use by all States parties. End Comment.
Annual Quota Distribution for 2010 Agreed Quickly

13. (SBU) On October 8, States Parties met to negotiate the
annual distribution of active quotas. The U.S. received the
15 quotas requested (14 over Russia/Belarus and 1 over
Ukraine). The U.S. will share 7 of its flights over Russia
with the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Romania, the
UK, and Turkey, and the flight over Ukraine with Canada.
Russia may conduct 42 active quota flights, and is subject to

USOSCE 00000226 003 OF 003


receive 39 flights. The OSCC adopted the results of the
quota meeting on October 19 (OSCC.DEC/8/09). U.S. reps
(DTRA) also held a successful de-confliction meeting among
States with quotas over Russia and Ukraine to determine the
quarterly and weekly calendar for 2010.

14. (SBU) Several States Parties reduced their quota bids or
did not bid at all this year. All cited economic
difficulties with funding flights in 2010. Bulgaria was the
most striking case - although it originally bid on 4 quotas
in September, it amended its bid just days before the meeting
to one quota. Portugal, Estonia, and Lithuania did not
request any quotas this year. Italy and Canada have
difficulty scheduling the use of their C-130 aircraft due to
higher priority activity supporting forces in Afghanistan.

15. (SBU) Comment: The overall number of missions requested
remains high, and similar to previous years. However,
several States are clearly having ongoing difficulties with
maintaining their budget for Open Skies flights. USDel
believes this is a trend worth watching, and encourages
creative thinking on how the U.S. can propose cost-sharing
arrangements that keep all partners actively engaged in the
Treaty. This is clearly a topic that is likely to appear on
the REVCON agenda. End comment.
Observation Flight Success Stories

16. (SBU) During the plenary, the UK highlighted the recent
success of the mission conducted by the UK and Russia over
Georgia from 28 September ) 2 October. This was the second
flight in a pair of flights arranged by the UK to foster
improved relations between Russia and Georgia. The UK
reported on the first mission conducted by the UK and Georgia
over Russia in September. The UK included a reference to a
comment on the UK Foreign Secretary's blog on 8 October,
applauding the package of joint missions. Such flights show
that progress is possible during difficult times. The UK
looks forward to continuing this package of flights in 2010
in accordance with the quota distribution Decision adopted
today.

17. (SBU) Denmark also reported positively on its first ever
Open Skies flight over Russia. Hungary reported on a
training flight conducted with Germany over the territory of
Montenegro. The training and VIP flights were conducted on
the Hungarian aircraft over two days, and were done according
to Treaty procedures. The imagery was processed in Hungary.
Hungary believes Montenegro is favorably disposed to apply
for OSCC membership.
Fuller