GEORGIA: WESTERN FRIENDS DISCUSS FUTURE OF UN WITH

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 000684 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/09/2019 TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM UNOMIG UNSC RS GG SUBJECT: GEORGIA: WESTERN FRIENDS DISCUSS FUTURE OF UN WITH SECRETARIAT Classified By: Ambassador Rosemary DiCarlo for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. Permreps/Deputy Permreps from the expanded Western Friends group (U.S., U.K., Germany, France, Croatia, Austria, Turkey and EU Council Secretariat) informally discussed the future of UN involvement in Georgia post-UNOMIG in a July 9 meeting with A/SYG Mulet (DPKO),A/SYG Fernandez-Taranco (DPA) and Kishore Mandhyan (Executive Office of the SYG). Summarizing the sense of the Western countries, German Permrep Mattusek said that a continuing UN role in the Geneva process is important, and it would therefore be important for the SYG to appoint a senior-level Special Advisor/Special Envoy to manage the UN co-chairmanship of the Geneva process, facilitate the Joint Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism, and to engage with the interested actors on other confidence building measures. Ambassador DiCarlo said ideas floated by SRSG Verbeke to assign some UN personnel to the JIPRM should also be considered, and UK Deputy Permrep Parham suggested that Verbeke should attempt to negotiate arrangements for the continuation of UNHCR and other specialized agencies with Georgia and the separatist entities before his departure. A/SYG Mulet said that departure of UN police and military observers would be complete by mid July, but Verbeke would continue his involvement in the Geneva talks through September and possibly beyond. Mulet expressed concern about arrangements for passage of UN staff across the administrative boundary, as well as Russian buy-in for any Special Advisor. Mandhyan said that a senior-level internal meeting on Georgia would take place soon, and that Western suggestions would be discussed. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) Following up on a July 7 meeting of an expanded Western Friends group (U.S., U.K., Germany, France, Croatia, Austria, Turkey and EU Council Secretariat) to discuss next steps on Georgia, the same group engaged in an informal July 9 discussion on the future of the UN in Georgia with A/SYG Edmund Mulet (Department of Peacekeeping Operations),A/SYG Oscar Fernandez-Taranco (Department of Political Affairs) and Kishore Mandhyan (Executive Office of the SYG). Summarizing the views of the Ambassadors, German PermRep Thomas Mattusek said that a continuing UN role in Georgia would be important to manage the UN's co-chairmanship of the Geneva talks, the Joint Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism, and to engage the parties in other confidence building measures. He suggested that the Secretary-General appoint a Special Advisor/Special Envoy to fulfill this role. Ideally, a Special Advisor would be a dedicated position, he said, and he/she would need be of sufficient stature to successfully engage with all of the interested actors. ¶3. (SBU) Ambassador DiCarlo suggested the Secretariat should also consider the ideas floated by SRSG Johan Verbeke during the July 1 Geneva round on reinforcing the JIPRM with UN staff members. U.K. Deputy Permrep Phillip Parham emphasized the importance of maintaining a UNHCR presence in Georgia, including in the Gali region, and he suggested that SRSG Verbeke should attempt to negotiate arrangements with Georgia and the Abkhaz and South Ossetian de facto authorities during his remaining time on the ground. Parham also suggested Verbeke should use his report to the Secretary-General at the end of August on the closure of the mission to make recommendations on a continuing UN presence. ¶4. (SBU) A/SYG Mulet said that UN police would complete their departure by July 12, that military observers would depart by July 15 and that the deputy SRSG would depart on July 20. Verbeke, he said, would depart in August, but would continue his involvement with the Geneva talks through September, and possibly beyond. Mulet reassured the group that the SYG intended to maintain the UN as one of the Geneva co-chairs, and said that the JIPRM was the only mechanism that would still have UN involvement. He added that the UN would participate in the July 14 JIPRM meeting in Gali. Mulet reported that during his recent trip to Georgia, de facto Abkhaz Foreign Minister Shamba told him he wanted the UN to remain in Abkhazia and that it could engage in human rights monitoring, humanitarian, and capacity building activities. Mulet said any JIPRM staff would need to report to NY headquarters. He pointed out that UNOMIG had formerly facilitated the passage of UNHCR staff across the administrative boundary (ABL),but would no longer be able to do so. The parties would need to guarantee transit across the ABL in order for specialized agencies to successfully operate. ¶5. (SBU) Mulet also suggested Russia would need to approve of any arrangements related to a Special Advisor. The U.K. Deputy Permrep emphasized that the Secretary-General could use his own discretion to appoint a Special Advisor, and would not need any Council member's approval. Ambassador USUN NEW Y 00000684 002 OF 002 DiCarlo added that Georgia, as a UN member state and host country for any UN presence, would need to accept any arrangements that involved UN activity in Georgia. ¶6. (SBU) Kishore Mandhyan from the SYG's Executive Office said that there would be a senior-level internal UN meeting on Georgia in the near future to be chaired by the SYG, and that the topics discussed with the Western Friends would be useful in preparing for the meeting. ¶7. (C) COMMENT. We will need to stay in close touch with the UN Secretariat in regard to the transition to a post-UNOMIG UN presence. The Secretariat seems much more inclined to recognize Russian equities than Georgian ones in negotiating arrangements for the continuation of UN activities on the ground. While we will need to be creative when it comes to making arrangements for specialized agencies to operate, we will also need to ensure that any arrangements do not undermine Georgia's territorial integrity. END COMMENT. RICE