OPEN SKIES: DECISION ON COSTS FINALLY ADOPTED;

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 USOSCE 000060 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR VCI/CCA, EUR/PRA, EUR/RPM, SCA/CEN JCS FOR COL NORWOOD OSD FOR ISA (PERENYI) NSC FOR HAYES EUCOM FOR J-5 E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PARM PREL KCFE OSCE SUBJECT: OPEN SKIES: DECISION ON COSTS FINALLY ADOPTED; BALL ROLLING ON 2010 REVIEW CONFERENCE REF: MARVIN-NEIGHBOUR EMAIL MARCH 20 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: The Open Skies Consultative Commission (OSCC) plenary on March 23 agreed on two decisions: the long-awaited Distribution of Costs and a revision to active quotas to reduce Latvia's quota this year. The U.S., which joined consensus on both decisions, reserved the right to make a future statement of understanding regarding the decision on quotas. Canada and Hungary, as depositories of the Treaty, introduced the topic of planning for the next Review Conference, to be chaired by the U.S. in 2010. The next OSCC plenary will be held on April 27 under the chairmanship of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Washington guidance requested; please see paras 2 and 10. End Summary. - - - - Plenary - - - - ¶2. (SBU) During the March 23 OSCC plenary (chaired by Belgium-Kenes),two decisions were adopted: Decision on Revision Five of Decision Number One to the Treaty on Open Skies on the Distribution of Costs Arising Under the Treaty on Open Skies (OSCC.DD/2/09). This had been under consideration for several months in the Russian-chaired Informal Working Group on Rules and Procedures and was the subject of repeated changes and tweaking of its details. The second was the Decision on Revision One to Decision No. 8/08 on the Distribution of Active Quotas for Observation Flights in the Year 2009 (OSCC.DD/3/09). This decision on quotas had been introduced to take account of a change in Latvia's flight plans. Latvia (Nilsons) announced that due to budgetary restrictions, Latvia would not be able to complete two of its planned shared missions with Turkey: one over Bosnia, the other over Georgia. After adoption of the decision, the U.S. (Neighbour) reserved its right to make a statement as appropriate at a later OSCC plenary regarding the decision on quotas. ¶3. (SBU) Russia (Kozlov) requested that the next time a "bulky document" was circulated for review that the proposed changes be highlighted so as to avoid delegations having to tediously compare previous and new versions side by side. - - - - - - - - - - - - - IWGRP: We're on Standby - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶4. (SBU) Russia (Kozlov) briefly advised the OSCC that now that Revision Five of Decision Number One on Costs had been adopted, the agenda for the Informal Working Group on Rules and Procedures (IWGRP) "had been exhausted." Kozlov noted that some issues were still "on the back burner," but that the IWGRP would be "on standby" and not formally meet again unless specifically requested by a delegation. Kozlov praised the group for having accomplished "a lot" and looked forward to future cooperation on other matters. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Working Group on Sensors Update - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶5. (SBU) The U.S. (Neighbour) announced that Scott Simmons, chair of the Informal Working Group on Sensors (IWGS) was in Vienna this week for informal meetings. Neighbour read a report issued by IWGS Chair Simmons (OSCC.SEN/9/08) in which Simmons noted that the IWGS had "achieved a milestone" toward completing Revision One to Decision Number 14 on sensors. To continue the positive momentum, the U.S. (Neighbour) announced that Simmons would be holding small group sessions this week (March 24, 25, 26) in Vienna for any interested delegations to make progress on the many technical details in Decision 14 and the Digital Image Processing Decision. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Russia on Recent Observation Missions USOSCE 00000060 002 OF 003 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶6. (SBU) Russia (Kozlov) announced that it recently had conducted a number of successful observation missions during the period of time since the last OSCC plenary (Februrary 23) and today's plenary. Kozlov said that Russia had completed an observation flight over U.S. territory, February 22 ) March 2; one over Spain, February 22; one over Benelux and Germany, March 2 ) 7; and, one over Hungary, March 16 ) 20. Russia (Kozlov) also announced that during this same time period, the Russian Federation escorted a U.S.-German observation flight and a Polish flight (on a Ukrainian aircraft). Kozlov thanked the German and Czech delegations for permitting Russia to transit both their territories during the observation flight over Spain. The Chair (Kenes) thanked Russia for its intervention, which highlighted the spirit of cooperation among parties during implementation of the Open Skies Treaty. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Put on Your Thinking Caps for the 2010 Review Conference! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶7. (SBU) Under any other business, Canada (Linteau) made a statement on behalf of Hungary and Canada, as depositories of the Treaty. Linteau drew attention to the next review conference, which is set to take place in 2010 under U.S. chairmanship. Linteau recalled that the depositories of the Treaty would convene a Review Conference to review Treaty implementation three years after the Treaty entered into force and then every five years thereafter. The Chair (Kenes) noted that drawing the OSCC's attention to the upcoming Second Review Conference was timely. ¶8. (SBU) The U.S. (Neighbour) thanked the Hungarian and Canadian delegations for their joint statement as well as their early and timely steps in planning for the next review conference. Neighbour noted, per ref, that the U.S. would begin informally consulting with interested States Parties over the next few months to listen to their views on details of the Second Review Conference, which would include, but not be limited to, modalities, agenda, theme, and timing. Neighbour observed that according to the Treaty, the Review Conference could convene any time in 2010, but cautioned that the first half of 2010 may be preferable than trying to fit it into the year's second half (September-December) when delegations would be consumed with Ministerial preparations and other big events during the short autumn session. Neighbour welcomed the views of other delegations and announced U.S. plans also to begin consulting with the OSCE Secretariat concerning calendar options for 2010. ¶9. (SBU) Russia (Kozlov) formally introduced Sergey Federyakov to the OSCC, a new political adviser for the Russian delegation, who will work on Open Skies, JCG, and FSC matters. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Informal Meeting on Second Review Conference - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶10. (SBU) After the plenary, the U.S., Canadian, Hungarian, Belgian, Russian, Bosnia and Herzegovinian delegations, and the OSCE Secretariat met to begin informal consultations on preparations for the 2010 Second Review Conference. Canada (Linteau),chaired the informal meeting, and suggested that the next step would be to propose a date for the conference. The Secretariat (Plut) outlined the budgetary process for funding such a conference and answered questions on financial procedures. The Secretariat also noted that currently the 2010 calendar is wide open as the Permanent Council has not yet scheduled its large meetings that normally take place during the first half of the year. Mission recommends that Washington take advantage of this early opportunity to propose a date as soon as possible after considering input from other States Parties. USOSCE 00000060 003 OF 003 - - - - - - - Next Plenary - - - - - - - ¶11. (SBU) The Chair (Kenes) announced that today's was the last plenary under Belgian Chairmanship and the OSCC would reconvene on April 27 under the chairmanship of Bosnia and Herzegovina. SCOTT