VZCZCXYZ0007
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTL #0002/01 0030914
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 030914Z JAN 07
FM AMEMBASSY TALLINN
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 9391

UNCLAS TALLINN 000002 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL EU NATO OSCE GG RU EN
SUBJECT: ESTONIA: FM PAET VISITS GEORGIA 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary.  During his visit to Georgia 
December 18-19, Georgian Officials told Foreign 
Minister Urmas Paet that: 
 
-- they hope for a NATO Membership Action Plan 
(MAP) already in 2007; 
-- they intend to extend economic and political 
reforms and substantially increase investment in 
education and infrastructure; 
-- they plan to amend the constitution to delay 
parliamentary elections until 2008; and 
-- they badly want the West to provide greater 
assistance to help resolve the separatist 
conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. 
 
Paet reiterated Estonia's commitment to support 
Georgia and pledged further cooperation in development 
assistance. End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) Foreign Minister Urmas Paet led a delegation to 
Georgia to officially open Estonia's new embassy in 
Tbilisi and to meet with Georgian President Mikhail 
Saakasvili, Prime Minister Zurab Noghaideli, Foreign 
Minister Gela Bezhuashvili, Minister of Defense David 
Kezerashvili, State Minister Giorgi Baramidze, and 
Deputy Speaker of Parliament Miheil Machavarian 
December 18-19. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Following the visit, Lauri Kuusing, MFA 
Acting Georgian Desk Officer and delegation member, 
briefed Pol/Econoff on Paet's meetings. 
 
-- NATO: In all of Paet's meetings, Georgian officials 
reiterated their commitment to starting an intensified 
dialogue (ID) with NATO, which they hope will 
eventually lead to a membership action plan (MAP) 
process by late 2007.  With public support for NATO 
membership at 75 percent, Georgian officials explained 
that the MAP process would assist in implementing the 
hard internal reforms necessary for NATO membership. 
In addition, Machavarian told Paet he expected the GOG 
would comply with its European Neighborhood Policy 
action plan commitments in three years instead of 
five. 
 
-- REFORMS: Kuusing said that in the short to mid- 
term, the GOG planned to focus more on implementing 
further political and economic reforms.  Georgian 
officials expressed their appreciation for the 
European experts, including one Estonian, who are 
training Georgian prosecutors, judges, and penal 
officials.  The GOG also plans to increase the 
education budget fivefold and investment in 
infrastructure tenfold.  PM Noghaideli told Paet that 
despite Russian sanctions he expected the economy to 
grow by 10 percent due to the GOG's market reforms. 
Moreover, Russian sanctions have forced Georgia to 
seek new markets and foreign investors, with the goal 
of reducing dependence on Russia. 
 
-- SUPPORT: Paet reiterated Estonia's support for 
Georgia including additional trilateral development 
cooperation projects with Georgia (which in the past 
has included Finland, Iceland, and Sweden on a various 
projects).  State Minister Baramidze said the GOG 
views Estonia's development experiences as invaluable. 
In addition, Paet signed an agreement on December 18 
to eliminate double taxation to encourage Estonian- 
Georgian investment. 
 
-- GEORGIAN-RUSSIAN RELATIONS: With the increase in 
the price of gas from Russia, the GOG plans to turn to 
Turkey and Turkmenistan for supplies.  Georgian 
officials said that there was currently no dialogue 
between Tbilisi and Moscow and complained of ongoing 
harassment of Georgians traveling to Russia.  GOG 
officials also detailed plans to change their 
constitution to postpone parliamentary elections until 
¶2008.  The goal of this is to de-link Georgian 
elections from the Russian election cycle to prevent 
Georgia's elections from being an issue in Russian 
elections. 
 
-- FROZEN CONFLICTS: GOG officials repeatedly pressed 
FM Paet on the need for increased EU, NATO, and U.S. 
assistance to solve the conflicts in Abkhazia and 
South Ossetia.  Defense Minister Kezerashvili seemed 
optimistic that the removal of the two remaining 
Russian military bases in Georgia was still on track, 
but noted Georgia's priority is to replace Russian 
peacekeeping military forces with police units.  Paet 
reaffirmed Estonia's support for Georgia's territorial 
integrity, but also cautioned that the Georgians will 
need to be patient since an eventual peaceful 
settlement will take time. 
 
¶4. (U) Comment:  Estonia's new embassy in Tblisi is 
its first in the southern Caucasus and reflects the 
priority Estonia places on relations with Georgia.  At 
the moment, the Embassy is staffed by a Charge 
d'affaires ad interim, but an Ambassador will be in 
place by the end of 2007.  The GOG plans to open an 
embassy in Estonia in 2007. (Note: Currently Georgia 
has an envoy resident in Lithuania covering all the 
Baltics. End Note.)  In addition, starting January 
2007, the GOE will grant visa-waiver travel to 
Georgian diplomats and plans to waive the application 
fee for Georgian citizens applying for a transit/one- 
time entry visa in late 2007 to make it easier for 
Georgians to travel to Estonia. 
 
GOLDSTEIN