VZCZCXRO0571
PP RUEHAG RUEHKW RUEHROV RUEHSL RUEHSR
DE RUEHBS #1048/01 2111750
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 301750Z JUL 09
FM USEU BRUSSELS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY
INFO RUCNMUC/EU CANDIDATE STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHMFITT/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BRUSSELS 001048
NOFORN
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/27/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV ECON EUN AF AL BO GG GR HR IC IR
KN, MK, SI, SO, SW
SUBJECT: JULY GAERC - SWEDISH PRESIDENCY OUTLINES
PRIORITIES AND TENDS TO BUSINESS
Classified By: USEU Pol M-C Christopher Davis for reasons 1.4 (b) and (
d).
¶1. (SBU) Summary: EU Foreign Ministers (FMs), meeting in
Brussels July 27 as the General Affairs and External
Relations Council (GAERC), received an overview of Swedish
Presidency priorities for the next six months. The GAERC
adopted without discussion numerous decisions, to include
U.S.-EU negotiations on payment data ("Swift"), and adopting
a Common Position extending the scope of restrictive measures
against the DPRK in line with UNSCR 1874. Discussions in the
General Affairs Council focused on the work program of the
Swedish Presidency, the Baltic Sea Strategy, and Iceland's EU
membership application. While unanimously deciding to refer
Iceland's membership application to the European Commission
for its opinion, the Council reiterated its support for
Western Balkan EU aspirants. The External Affairs Council
devoted its attention to the situation in Somalia, Georgia,
Iran, Afghanistan-Pakistan, and the Western Balkans. The next
GAERC will be in September. The press confernc also confirmed
diffs place in Europe." Rehn declined to
commit on thQ timetable for the presentation of the
CommisQion's opinion, saying the Commission "will ue the
same methodology as for any other appliQant." Rehn noted,
however, that Iceland is aQready a member of the European
Economic Area (EEA) and Schengen, implying that "the distance
to the EU" may therefore be shorter. Iceland already
completed 22 of 35 EU accession negotiation chapters in order
to become a member of the EEA, Rehn acknowledged. To this,
Swedish FM Bildt added, "It took Sweden a longer time to
negotiate its membership in the EEA than its membership in
the EU"
¶6. (SBU) Responding to pressure from some Ministers, the
Council also sent "a very clear message" to Albania (whose
application is to be handled when the June election procedure
has been completed) and the other countries of the Western
Balkans, reiterating the EU's full support for their
"European perspective.Rehn stressed, too, that the EU must
continue to focus on "the need to stabilize and integrate
more Eastern European countries."
External Affairs
----------------
¶7. (SBU) Chaired by Swedish FM Bildt, the External Affairs
Council discussed - and issued formal Conclusions related to
- Somalia, Georgia, and Iran. Following recommendations from
HR Solana, Ministers decided to step up EU engagement for
promoting peace and development in Somalia. Priority will
BRUSSELS 00001048 002 OF 003
reportedly be given to activities that produce quick yet
sustainable results to promote peace and recovery for the
Somali people. Capacity building of public institutions will
be of particular importance in this context, FM Bildt saying
that "the EU is looking for every step that could contribute
to stability." External Relations Commissioner
Ferrero-Waldner stressed the importance of incorporating "all
groups" into any stabilization efforts and noted that pledges
for UNISOM in the amount of 60 million Euros had been
obtained at a recent pledging conference.
¶8. (C) High Representative Javier Solana welcomed Norway's
participation in Operation Atalanta, and added, "We are also
continuing our mission on the ground." Solana alluded to a
mission "for training security forces in Somalia" and how to
cooperate with the African Union mission there, adding that
the formal mission will "clarify our agreement on how to
cooperate." On July 29, the French pol-mil counselor told
PolOff that while Member States had not yet agreed on a
particular course of action to support the Somali security
sector, he expects the EU to launch an SSR initiative of some
kind. France is still looking to &Europeanize8 future
training efforts for Somali security forces in Djibouti,
following the recently launched French national effort.
Paris wants to make sure, however, that any EU action along
these lines is a truly shared effort, not one where France
takes on the bulk of the military and financial burden, as in
Chad. In addition to the announced EU mission, contacts from
the French and UK missions say they support EU participation
in the security sector assessment mission that begins August
12, in which the U.S. is participating, but that some Member
States, including the Swedish Presidency, need assurance that
the assessment mission ties in with UN efforts.
¶9. (SBU) Turning to Georgia, the Council decided to extend
the mandate of the EU's Monitoring Mission (EUMM) for an
additional 12 months (until 12 September 2010). The Council
adopted joint actions extending both the duration of EUMM and
the mandate of the EU Special Representative (EUSR) for the
Crisis in Georgia. Responding to a question about whether
the Council had had an initial debate about inviting non-EU
members to participate in EUMM, FM Bildt said that the
emphasis of the day's discussions had been to "convey a
message of stability and continuity," implying that the issue
of third-country participation "was not really addressed."
¶10. (C) On Iran, FM Bildt reported the Ministers had "a
rather thorough discussion over lunch." While expressing
satisfaction that "we managed to get release of people
working for the UK Embassy," Bildt also reported "deep
concern" about the detention of French citizen Clothilde
Reiss. Bildt added, "We expect her immediate release," and
noted that Ministers had expressed deep concern about the
human rights situation in the country. Concerning the
upcoming inauguration of President Ahmadinejad, Bildt said
that the EU lacked "a definitely clear picture of the
ceremonies, but would make its views known on the human
rights situation and French citizen detained." Swedish
Presidency contacts told Poloff on July 29 that a consensus
view on EU participation at the upcoming inauguration did not
emerge because details surrounding the event remained unclear
(no formal invitations received to date) and Ministers wanted
to gauge Iran's response to requests that Reiss be freed from
detention.
External Affairs - Othe r Issues
-------------------------------
¶11. (U) Concerning Afghanistan-Pakistan, FM Bildt reported
that the EU and SRAP Holbrooke had sent a very clear message
to Afghan authorities and candidates for the upcoming
elections that they expect a credible election. Bildt said
that the EU was "preparing for an even more active role" and
that the post-election period would be critical for the
future development of Afghanistan.
¶12. (U) Concerning the ongoing name dispute between
Macedonia and Greece and reports in the Greek press that the
Greek FM had claimed that accession negotiations could only
move forward once the dispute was settled, Enlargement
Commissioner Rehn said that there was "still a realistic
chance to find a solution to the name issue." He added that
the Niemetz-led mediation efforts were moving ahead and
stressed that the necessarily unanimous decision to open
BRUSSELS 00001048 003.2 OF 003
negotiations will depend on Macedonia meeting eight
benchmarks. Speaking to the Western Balkans more broadly,
Rehn said that it would be a "busy fall," especially since
the Commission recently recommended visa-free travel for
three countries in the region. He expressed his belief that
it should be possible to find solutions to bilateral issues
(referring specifically to the Slovenia-Croatia dispute and
Macedonia name issues), adding, "We need to tackle the issues
one by one. That requires patience and determination, but
there is no other choice than that."
Other Business
--------------
¶13. (U) Following the test of nuclear device by the DPRK in
May, the Council adopted a Common Position extending the
scope of restrictive measures against the DPRK in line with
UNSCR 1874. Ministers also decided without discussion to
allow negotiations with the U.S. on payment data ("Swift") to
begin.
EU-Macedonia SAA Council
------------------------
¶14. (C/NF) Well-placed Council sources tell us the annual
EU-Macedonia SAA Council was tense. Last-minute procedural
changes demanded by the Greek Deputy FM nearly derailed
discussions, and the Macedonian delegation itself took a
noticeably harder line. "On orders from Athens," the Greek
Deputy FM reportedly demanded that all name placards for
Macedonian representative contain "FYROM" spelled out fully,
not simply list the name and title of each representative. A
number of Council officials successfully impressed upon the
Greek Deputy FM that changing the placards was not possible
given the imminent start of the meeting, and that such an
action would undoubtedly result in the Macedonian delegation
walking out. For their part, the Macedonian delegation
reportedly insisted on a variety of editing changes to
references to their country, Milososki reportedly telling a
Council official that the current references to Macedonia in
EU-internal documents amounted to "ethnic cleansing."
Ultimately, it took FM Bildt's personal involvement to get
the Macedonians to back down and allow for the issuance of a
joint statement upon conclusion of the meeting.
EU-Belarus Troika
-----------------
¶15. (SBU) Taking place on July 28, the EU-Belarus Troika
revealed that while both sides recognize the need to develop
relations, it also confirmed differences on their
expectations from one another. Describing relations as being
at "a crossroads," External Relations Commissioner
Ferrero-Waldner made it clear that the EU was ready to
reengage with Belarus. Trade, energy and visa facilitation
were discussed, the latter being of particular interest to
Belarus FM Martynov. Characterizing the discussions as
"frank and open," FM Bildt expressed hope in progress, but
left Martynov with no doubt (alluding to Georgia's breakaway
provinces) about "the importance we attach to the principle
of territorial integrity." Concerning the Eastern
Partnership Initiative, Bildt noted that its implementation
was just in the "start-up phase."
CHASE
http://wikileaks.antibaro.gr/cable/2009/07/09BRUSSELS1048.html
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