GREEK PERMREP FORSEES NO NEAR-TERM PROGRESS ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 000811

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/27/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV UNFICYP MK TU CY GR
SUBJECT: GREEK PERMREP FORSEES NO NEAR-TERM PROGRESS ON
MACEDONIA NAME, CYPRUS

Classified By: Ambassador Susan Rice for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY. During an introductory call, newly arrived
Greek Permrep Anastassis Mitsialis sought Ambassador Rice's
concurrence to schedule a Security Council briefing by Greek
Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis as Chairwoman-in-Office of
the OSCE during the UNGA Ministerial Week. Mitsialis
expressed skepticism that the Macedonia name issue would be
resolved before Greek parliamentary elections in Spring 2010,
and he outlined Greece's views on the Cyprus negotiations and
relations with Turkey. Ambassador Rice told Mitsialis that
the U.S. would be open to hearing an unusual second briefing
from Bakoyannis before the end of the Greek chairmanship, but
that Greece's proposal to brief at the end of September,
concurrent with the UNGA General Debate, could not be
accommodated. END SUMMARY.

OSCE BRIEFING
--------------

2. (C) During an introductory call on August 26, recently
appointed Greek Permrep Anastassis Mitsialis asked Ambassador
Rice if the U.S. would schedule another Security Council
briefing by Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis as OSCE
Chairwoman-in-Office (CiO),to coincide with Bakoyannis'
attendance at the UNGA General Debate and Ministerial Week
(September 22-30). Mitsialis acknowledged that Bakoyannis
had briefed the Security Council in late February, and that
the Council had typically held only one OSCE briefing during
each chairmanship. Ambassador Rice said that the UNSC
schedule was too full during that time period, but said the
U.S. would be open to a second briefing from the Greek CiO at
another time, perhaps during Vietnam's October SC presidency.

MACEDONIA NAME
--------------

3. (SBU) Ambassador Mitsialis said that negotiations with
Macedonia over its name would be Greece's top UN priority,
though he was not personally involved in the negotiations.
He predicted that little progress would be made prior to
expected Greek parliamentary elections in March 2010. In the
intervening 5-6 months, he thought there would be minimal
maneuvering space for Greek politicians to ease their
positions on the name issue. Greece had already acquiesced
to the use of the word, "Macedonia" in the name, as long as
it was accompanied by a geographic qualifier, such as
"Northern Macedonia" or "North Macedonia". Greece would
insist that as part of an agreement, the Security Council
encourage member states to use the agreed-upon name in their
bilateral relations. Mitsialis called Skopje's approach to
the name and identity issue, "unfriendly", and said that
Greece was prepared to continue blocking Macedonia's EU and
NATO membership if necessary.

CYPRUS/TURKEY
--------------

4. (SBU) Mitsialis said believed a Cyprus resolution required
more time than the Macedonia name issue, with security
guarantees, property and settlers as the most difficult
issues to be resolved. Mitsialis commented that "artificial
time limits" were not helpful, noting that the Secretariat
would assess progress in the talks together with Special
Advisor Alexander Downer in mid-September, and that the
Secretary-General planned to visit Greece and Cyprus in the
fall. The key to a Cyprus solution lay in Ankara, he said,
not with Turkish Cypriot leader Talat. Turkey's recent
actions, such as increasing military overflights of Greek
territory in the Aegean, were unnecessarily provocative, as
was the Turkish parliament's position that Greek extension of
its territorial waters to 12 nautical kilometers would
constitute a "causus belli".
RICE