OPEN SKIES: NOVEMBER 23--PLANS TO RE-CONVENE

UNCLAS USOSCE 000268 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: NOVEMBER 23--PLANS TO RE-CONVENE "FORMATS AND NOTIFICATIONS" WORKING GROUP ¶1. (SBU): Summary: The Open Skies Consultative Commission plenary addressed Russian concerns over air navigation invoices; cleared the draft Chairman's letter and paragraph contribution to the Athens Ministerial Declaration; and called for reactivating the Working Group on Notifications and Formats to address proposed changes to the OSCE Communication Network. The U.S. announced the Informal Working Group on Sensors (IWGS) will reconvene on December 7 in Athens. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) At the November 23 Open Skies Consultative Commission (OSCC),Russia (Federyakov) complained about discrepancies in air navigation invoices in Europe associated with Open Skies implementation. Russia specifically requested the Chair (Bulgaria's Iliev) to contact the group &Euro Control8 on behalf of the OSCC, informing them of the problem, and the actions being taken. Germany (Ratzlaff) asked for a list of the erroneous invoices; Russia said it would provide more details. ¶3. (SBU) The draft letter from the Open Skies Chair to the Greek FonMin as Chair of the OSCE Ministerial (MC.GAL/2/09/Rev.1) was discussed. Germany, supported by Finland (Salonen),wanted &sometimes even in challenging circumstances8 removed from the penultimate paragraph of the second page, calling the reference &ambiguous.8 The UK (Hartnell),supported by the U.S. (Neighbour) and Russia, responded the reference was a &positive commendation of the Open Skies treaty.8 The Chair retained the phrase and the letter has been forwarded to the Chair. ¶4. (SBU) The Open Skies paragraph (MC.GAL/3/09/Rev.1) to be included in the political declaration at the Athens OSCE ministerial (if a declaration is agreed) was adopted without objections. This also has been forwarded to the Greeks. ¶5. (SBU) In reference to its proposal for changes to the OSCE Communication Network, Hungary (Szatmari) supported by the U.S. called for re-activating the Working Group on Notifications and Formats WGNF) as the appropriate jurisdictional body. The U.S., which as the last chair of the WGNF, offered to prepare a draft decision on this and other housekeeping issues, in full consultation with interested delegations. Bulgaria noted the issue was not urgent and this would give delegations time to check with capials if needed. ¶6. (SBU) The U.S. announced the Informal Working Group on Sensors (IWGS) will reconvene on December 7 in Athens. The IWGS continues to focus on Revision One to Decision 14. The IWGS completed a workshop last month, the data of which is available on the IWGS section of the OSCE website. ¶7. (SBU) Russia announced it carried out successful observation flights over the U.S., Canada, and Greece. Canada (Gosal) noted it had scheduled a flight over Russia for November 9-15, accompanied by the UK and Georgia, but the mission was cancelled due to weather and illness. ¶8. (SBU) The next OSCC plenary will take place on December ¶14. It will be the last under Bulgaria,s chairmanship. FULLER