ACTION REQUEST: POSSIBLE AUTUMN 2010 NATO

UNCLAS USNATO 000054 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OVIP AORC PREL NATO SUBJECT: ACTION REQUEST: POSSIBLE AUTUMN 2010 NATO MINISTERIAL DATES REF: SG(2010)0062 ¶1. (SBU) This is an action request. Please see para 4. ¶2. (SBU) On February 2, Secretary General Rasmussen identified four tentative dates for possible foreign and/or defense ministerials this fall to be held in Brussels: -- Thursday, September 16; -- Thursday, September 23; -- Thursday, October 7; and -- Thursday, October 14. The Secretary General believes he may need to call meetings on one or more of these dates to address issues ahead of the NATO Heads of State and Government Summit which will be held in November in Lisbon. ¶3. (SBU) The Secretary General has asked for maximum flexibility from nations with regard to these dates, arguing that he will not have clarity on whether or not meetings will need to be held until closer to the date of the Summit. He hopes to have a better sense of the schedule by the beginning of September. ¶4. (SBU) Action Request: We ask that Washington let us know immediately if any of these dates will absolutely not work for Secretaries Clinton and Gates. Assuming they are available, we ask that holds be placed on the dates. ¶5. (SBU) Comment: With the last NATO ministerial before the Lisbon Summit scheduled for June, it is almost certain that fall ministerials will need to be called in order to resolve outstanding issues before the Summit. Afghanistan, the Strategic Concept, Missile Defense and NATO-Russia are just some of the issues that ministers may need to grapple with if President Obama and his counterparts are to have a successful summit. Similar ministerials were held just prior to recent summits in Bucharest (2008) and Strasbourg-Kehl (2009). While no final decision has been taken, it is also likely that the regularly scheduled December Foreign Ministerial will be canceled this year because it would fall too soon after the Summit. HEFFERN