Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
10USOSCE36
2010-02-10 14:59:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Mission USOSCE
Cable title:  

OSCE WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS: FEBRUARY 1 - 5, 2010

Tags:  OSCE PGOV PREL MARR KZ KV RS GG AL 
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 USOSCE 000036 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/10/2019
TAGS: OSCE PGOV PREL MARR KZ KV RS GG AL
SUBJECT: OSCE WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS: FEBRUARY 1 - 5, 2010

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Carol Fuller for reasons 1.4 (b) and (
d)

CDA Fuller Meets Albanian DFM Edith Harxhi

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 USOSCE 000036

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/10/2019
TAGS: OSCE PGOV PREL MARR KZ KV RS GG AL
SUBJECT: OSCE WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS: FEBRUARY 1 - 5, 2010

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Carol Fuller for reasons 1.4 (b) and (
d)

CDA Fuller Meets Albanian DFM Edith Harxhi


1. (SBU) In a January 27 meeting with CDA Fuller, Albanian
Deputy Foreign Minister Edith Harxhi sounded hopeful the SP
would return to parliament before March and said the GoA was
waiting to see what SP Leader Rama's next move would be upon
his return from a trip to the United States. On the Balkans
in general, Harxhi was pessimistic, commenting that the EU
needed to step up and quit relying on the United States. She
said Macedonia was "in bad shape" with stagnation on the name
issue and criticized the GoM for pushing a policy of making
Macedonian language mandatory for ethnic Albanians but not
vice-versa. She said that in her meeting with the
Kazakhstani delegation, her interlocutors seemed uninterested
in the Balkans and poorly informed, particularly on Kosovo.
Regarding Albania's bid for the 2014 Chairmanship, Harxhi
said the GoA is working on a strategy paper and plans to
increase the size of its OSCE delegation by adding three
diplomats in the near future. CDA Fuller encouraged Harxhi
to consider closer consultations with Lithuania regarding
Albania's preparations for the Chairmanship; to look at
seconding MFA staff to other countries and to OSCE
institutions; and to share strategy and planning documents
with other participating States to demonstrate Albania's
seriousness and willingness to do the hard work of preparing
for a Chairmanship.

Albanian DFM Shares Views on Adjustments to OSCE PiA


2. (SBU) Discussing her views of the OSCE Presence in Albania
(PiA),DFM Harxhi told CDA Fuller that the PiA has done
excellent work in areas such as elections and continues to
fill a needed role in improving the justice system, but said
there was room for reductions in some areas of activity, such
as civil administration and border management, where there is
duplication with other entities. Harxhi said a reduction in

the number of Project Offices was probably justified as well,
specifically naming the Offices in Vlora and Skodra as
possibilities, as they are now only about an hour away from
Tirana (previous discussions with the Albanian delegation
have suggested a focus on closing Kukes, but Harxhi did not
mention this Office). CDA Fuller asked Harxhi to stay in
close contact with Embassy Tirana regarding GoA intentions
for the PiA and noted the United States was open to
considering strategic adjustments where portions of the
mandate had been fulfilled, but cautioned that any reductions
had to be justified by progress. Harxhi said she had
recently asked Head of Presence Robert Bosch to play a more
active role in resolving Albania's political deadlock, but he
had told her he feels "helpless." Harxhi attributed this
partly to reluctance on his part to become more involved,
since he is planning to return this summer to a position in
the Dutch MFA.

Chairmanship Offers Possible Compromise on Human Dimension
Agenda


3. (C) In response to concerns expressed by the United
States, the EU, Canada, and Norway, the Kazakhstani
Chairmanship called an informal meeting January 29 to discuss
possible compromises on the human dimension (HD) agenda. The
Chairmanship's representative initially appealed for the
original agenda to be accepted by all delegations, but

USOSCE 00000036 002 OF 004


delegations remained steadfast in reiterating the
recommendations provided at the January 22 HD Committee
meeting. After much discussion and solid arguments, the
Kazakhstani representative offered a possible compromise:
replace the proposed Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting on
"Combating Trafficking in Human Beings" with a meeting on
"Freedom of the Media;" make the "Trafficking" topic the
focus of one of the Special Days at the annual Human
Dimension Implementation Meeting, instead of "Media
Self-Regulation;" and replace the Special Day topic of
"Strengthening the Independence of the Judicial System" with
"Freedom of Movement." Although none of the delegations
could respond definitively, the Kazakhstanis noted they would
work with Russia, Belarus, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan on
the proposed compromise prior to the next HD Committee
meeting, which has been postponed until February 4. This
experience demonstrates how a unified approach by like-minded
delegations can succeed at moving the Kazakhstanis from their
default position, which appears unsympathetic to our full
range of HD priorities.

EEF on Transport Security and Borders Kicks Off in Vienna


4. (U) Segment I of the Economic and Environmental Forum
(EEF) kicked off in Vienna February 1 with addresses by the
Kazakhstani PermRep, the Secretary General, and the
Coordinator of Economic and Environmental Activities.
Opening remarks highlighted the importance of good governance
in border management for trade and economic growth and the
potential of Central Asia as a transit route. Presentations
by the UNECE, the International Transport Forum, and the
International Road Transport Union made clear that there is
an abundance of relevant instruments which would improve the
performance of the transport sector and customs and border
management if there were wider accession and more complete
implementation. U.S. welcoming remarks encouraged a
strategic and cross-dimensional approach to the issues under
discussion, highlighted the Kazakhstani Chairmanship and the
Forum as an opportunity to promote good governance and
management at border crossings in Central Asia, and stressed
the topic's relevance to the OSCE's involvement with
Afghanistan.

Kazakhstan Outlines Efforts on Georgia Conflict


5. (SBU) In the weekly meeting with the Chairmanship February
2, Kazakhstani PermRep Abdrakhmanov commented that both
Moscow and Tbilisi seemed "ready to talk" about next steps in
Georgia but lacked trust, which the Chairmanship intended to
help build. Abdrakhmanov felt Kazakhstan's special
representative for protracted conflicts, Bolat Nurgaliyev, as
well as other OSCE personnel, were gaining acceptance in the
region but noted the OSCE as a whole still was viewed with
distrust. He noted both sides were accusing the other of
preparing for war, which made it difficult to solve practical
problems, such as the continued lack of water for Georgia and
natural gas for the South Ossetia region. In terms of
implementing the proposed OSCE support team, Abdrakhmanov
said the situation was largely unchanged from last year, with
South Ossetian representatives still insisting on
Nurgaliyev's personal presence, which would not always be
possible. Nurgaliyev's near-term goals would be to assist in
cooling rhetoric on both sides and to listen to all proposals.

Conflict Prevention, Energy Security Key EU Priorities


USOSCE 00000036 003 OF 004



6. (SBU) During the weekly EU coordination meeting February
3, Head of EU Delegation Ambassador Lundin and Spanish
Ambassador Betanzos Roig (representing the EU Presidency)
asked for adequate time to examine the U.S. proposal for a
conflict prevention and resolution mechanism and requested
more details on content and procedures as envisioned by the
USG. They appreciated U.S. leadership in this area and
stressed that conflict prevention would be a key EU priority
over the next year. Lundin suggested any conflict prevention
role for the OSCE would need to be focused and coordinated
and would need clear channels of communication to relevant UN
agencies. He noted there was a serious debate in Brussels
regarding the division of labor among various institutions,
especially in light of EU experience in Afghanistan, where
numerous EU institutions have been active but not always
coordinated. Lundin expressed confidence there would be
strong attention from Brussels to getting the balance right
and noted the goal should be to cover more types of threats
with the same instruments. (The EU slogan: "Multidimensional
problems, multipurpose solutions.") Another priority for the
EU will be energy security. Lundin and Betanzos Roig noted
there were factions within the EU that want to increase
political attention to energy security, while others seek to
focus on technical issues with a lower political profile.
The EU also is debating whether one mechanism or a set of
complementary mechanisms is most desirable.

Russia Says Lack of Progress in Geneva "Disheartens"
Abkhazia, South Ossetia


7. (SBU) Declaring the January 28 round of the Geneva
discussions "fairly complicated," Russia claimed at the
February 4 Permanent Council meeting that the lack of
specific results in Geneva had "disheartened" the Abkhaz and
South Ossetian participants, adding that the "clearly
pro-Georgian" set of proposed interim security measures had
prompted the Abkhaz and South Ossetians to question the value
of participating in future rounds. Russia reiterated its
position that any new international presence must be agreed
with the "independent republics" and again urged
participating States to recognize the "new realities" in the
region. Russia further suggested that Abkhaz and South
Ossetian authorities be invited to participate in the OSCE's
Corfu Process discussions on European security. The EU, the
United States, and Georgia offered starkly different
interpretations of the latest round of the Geneva
discussions, highlighting the success of the IPRM for the
Abkhazia region and calling for the renewal of the
mechanism's South Ossetian counterpart.

Head of OSCE Mission in Kosovo Reports to PC


8. (U) In his January 4 report to the Permanent Council, OMIK
Head of Mission Werner Almhofer described the OSCE's
activities in Kosovo and gave an overview of major political
and security developments. Among other issues, he noted
relatively high election turnout overall in the November 2009
municipal elections, including among Serbs south of the Ibar.
In her response, the Serbian PermRep echoed much of
President Tadic's January 22 address to the UNSC, criticized
OMIK's report for presenting a misleading picture by not
including information that only 6,022 of more than 100,000
ethnic Serbs participated in the elections, and pointed to
Kosovo as the "only territory in the Western Balkans that is
labeled not free" in the 2009 Freedom House report. Calling
it an issue that could be a litmus test for honesty of

USOSCE 00000036 004 OF 004


purpose, she repeated Tadic's call for an alternative
framework for decentralization through a status-neutral
organization such as the OSCE, a remark that left many
delegations and OMIK's HoM himself wondering privately if
Belgrade was planning to put a concrete proposal on the
table. The Serbian PermRep also repeated earlier calls for
an "Outreach Unit" to do more work on the protection and
promotion of the rights of non-Albanian communities. Russia
went on the offensive against the Northern Strategy, saying
it could lead to inter-ethnic conflict, and said Serb turnout
in the elections represented not recognition of Kosovo
authorities, but rather distress at increasing isolation.
U.S. remarks noted the elections as a sign of progress,
called for a constructive approach in the north, cautioned
against engagement with parallel institutions, and urged OMIK
to prioritize capacity-building activities.
FULLER