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.

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Plenary
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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.

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IWGRP: We're on Standby
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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.

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Working Group on Sensors Update
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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.

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Russia on Recent Observation Missions

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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.

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Put on Your Thinking Caps for the 2010 Review Conference!
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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.

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Informal Meeting on Second Review Conference
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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.

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Next Plenary
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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