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RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 0293
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0265
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 0419
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RUEHKV/AMEMBASSY KIEV 0109

UNCLAS MUNICH 000114 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PARM NATO IAEA NPT ENRG IR GM
 
SUBJECT: MUNICH SECURITY CONFERENCE OVERVIEW: MERKEL URGES 
PRIMACY OF NATO; IRAN AND ENERGY SECURITY DISCUSSED 
 
SUMMARY: 
-------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) The February 3-5 42nd Munich Conference on 
Security Policy ("Wehrkunde") on "Restoring the 
Transatlantic Partnership," explored a wide-range of 
security policy topics, including the future of NATO, its 
relationship with the EU, Russia's relationship with Europe 
and NATO, and Foreign and Security policy interests in 
Asia.  German Chancellor Angela Merkel set the tone for the 
conference in a strongly pro-NATO keynote address (septel) 
in which she advocated the "primacy of NATO" for European 
security policy and chastised Iran - in the presence of 
Iranian Deputy FM Abbas Araghchi - for having crossed the 
"redline" by resuming nuclear enrichment activities. 
Because the Russian Deputy Prime Minister, the Georgian 
President and the Ukrainian Defense Minister participated 
in the conference, and because the beginning of the 
Conference overlapped with the IAEA Special Board of 
Governors' (BOG) Meeting, Iran and energy security were 
recurrent themes throughout the 3-day conference. 
 
¶2. (SBU) On the margins of the conference, senior defense 
and foreign policy ministers from most European and several 
Asian governments met formally or informally in bilateral 
meetings.  On the US side, SecDef Rumsfeld met with 
Chancellor Merkel, Defense Minister Jung and Georgian 
President Saakashvili.  Deputy Secretary Zoellick met with 
NATO SYG de Hoop Scheffer, German National Security Advisor 
Heusgen (septel), German FM Steinmeier, and Indian NSA 
Narayanan.  CODEL McCain's formal bilateral meetings 
included: the annual "Transatlantic Breakfast" hosted by 
MFA State Secretary Scharioth (septel); a meeting with 
German FM Steinmeier; a joint meeting with Estonian FM Paet 
and Lithuanian FM Valionis; and a separate meeting with 
Georgian President Saakashvili.  End Summary. 
 
GEORGIA'S ROLE IN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY POLICY 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶3. (U) Georgian President Saakashvili led off the 
conference with a dinner speech on Georgia's Role in 
International Security Policy.  Saakashvili's comments were 
relatively muted (he barely mentioned Russia by name), and 
mainly made the case that Georgia belongs in the Euro- 
Atlantic community and is a good candidate for NATO 
membership.  Although he mentioned Georgia's energy 
dependence on Russia, it was not the focus of his speech. 
However, other participants repeatedly mentioned Georgian 
energy security concerns during the conference. 
 
MERKEL PUTS NATO FIRST AND FIELDS TOUGH QUESTIONS 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Chancellor Merkel set the tone for the conference 
with a keynote address that emphasized that NATO must be 
for Europe and America the first forum for conducting 
strategic debates and considering military action.  Her 
speech, which her staff acknowledges was largely re-written 
by her, and her adept fielding of questions, were the 
highlights of the conference. 
 
DEFMINS DISCUSS "TESTS" OF U.S.-EUROPEAN PARTNERSHIP 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶5. (U) During a panel entitled "Europe and the United 
States: A Test of Partnership," SecDef Rumsfeld called for 
the world's great democracies - anchored by NATO - to deal 
effectively with terrorism, the "greatest challenge to our 
security in the 21st century."  He described some of the 
key tasks ahead, such as: working to make the Proliferation 
Security Initiative a Success; helping countries in the 
Caucasus and Central Asia to train their security forces by 
utilizing Partnership for Peace programs; and continuing to 
transform NATO for the 21st Century by investing in the 
NATO Response Force, broader common funding, and 
encouraging NATO to develop an expeditionary culture and 
capability. 
 
¶6. (U) On the same panel French DefMin Alliot-Marie alleged 
that the United Nations was the only true source of 
international legitimacy, cautioned against "spreading 
ourselves too thin" in areas where other regional 
 
organizations are competent; suggested that the 
transatlantic partners should "rely on a European Union cut 
out to be a major power pole in the new international 
environment"; suggested that the "durability challenge of 
the transatlantic link depends on the ability to define a 
new partnership between the EU and North America," and 
called for making clearer the specificities of NATO and EU 
operations.  She claimed that ESDP is better adapted to 
"lightning" operations and civil-military actions. 
 
¶7. (U) UK Defense Minister Reid rebutted concerns expressed 
by Alliot-Marie and reinforced points made by SECDEF 
Rumsfeld with humor and irony.  In response to Alliot- 
Marie's expressed concern about the dissonance of an 
orchestra where all instruments play at the same time, Reid 
suggested that NATO and the EU could effectively work 
together in the style of a jazz band.  Alliot-Marie and 
Reid both defended the continued need for a nuclear 
deterrent. 
 
MCCAIN COMMENTS ON IRANIAN THREAT, CALLS FOR POSSIBLE 
BOYCOTT OF ST. PETERSBURG G8 IN DISCUSSION OF NATO THEMES 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
¶8. (U) NATO SYG de Hoop Scheffer's remarks focused on: 
broader and more intense political consultations at NATO on 
issues ranging from the Balkans and Afghanistan to Africa 
and the Middle East, and energy security; NATO's growing 
operational commitments; progress on transformation, 
including achieving full operational capability for the 
NRF, strengthening NATO's access to strategic lift, and 
better funding mechanisms; the need to work more 
effectively with partners and to build a pragmatic, 
strategic partnership with the European Union; and the need 
to bring these themes together at the November 2006 NATO 
summit in Riga.  In response to a question about a possible 
peacekeeping role for NATO in the Palestinian territories, 
the SYG stated that no NATO representative can talk to 
Hamas. 
 
¶9. (U) German DefMin Jung said the dialogue within NATO 
must address all important security issues, citing Iran's 
nuclear program as a case in point.  However, he cautioned 
that NATO is not a mini-UN, nor the OSCE and warned against 
overextending NATO by attempting to assume all 
responsibility for guaranteeing peace and security.  Jung 
said NATO and the EU must agree on the development of their 
respective capabilities for crisis management, noting that 
the political consultation allowed by Berlin-plus should be 
put into practice.  NRF is the political litmus test for 
the strategic solidarity of the alliance partners, said 
Jung, and called for greater burden sharing. 
 
¶10. (U) Senator McCain brought the discussion back to Iran, 
by noting that the IAEA Board of Governors had just voted 
in favor of a referral of Iran to the UNSC for violation of 
its NPT commitments.  Calling upon Russia and China to 
support multilateral sanctions against Iran, including a 
prohibition on investment, a travel ban, and asset freeze 
for government leaders and nuclear scientists, he pointed 
out that, protected by a nuclear deterrent, Iran would feel 
unconstrained to sponsor terrorist attacks against any 
perceived enemy and stimulate other countries in the region 
to reconsider their arsenals. 
 
¶11.  (U) Turning his attention to Russia, Senator McCain 
said that under Putin, Russia is neither a democracy nor 
one of the world's leading economies and questioned whether 
the G8 leaders should attend the St. Petersburg summit.  He 
said that by integrating reformist democracies like Georgia 
and Ukraine into transatlantic institutions, the zone of 
democratic peace could be extended into regions of vital 
interest to Western security.  He suggested that 
transatlantic partners must extend tangible benefits to 
Ukraine as it moves towards reform and Western 
orientations, suggesting that a "tangible benefit" would be 
endorsement of a Membership Action Plan (MAP) at NATO's 
June Ministerial.  In the question session following his 
speech, Senator McCain suggested that NATO could consider 
providing security for energy supply lines. 
 
SENATOR LIEBERMAN URGES DRAMATICALLY INCREASED ROLE FOR 
NATO IN DARFUR GENOCIDE AND ENFORCING IRAN SANCTIONS 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
¶12. (U) Leading off the panel on "Resolving Conflicts 
through International Cooperation" Albanian Prime Minister 
Berisha said economic underdevelopment, poverty and 
unemployment in the failed experiment that was Yugoslavia, 
could contribute to instability.  He asserted that his 
government has zero tolerance for organized crime and 
criminal trafficking.  Noting that international terrorism 
can be most effectively fought through international 
cooperation, he warned against leaving EU and NATO aspirant 
countries in Southeastern Europe hanging. 
 
¶13. (U) Senator Lieberman said that the genocide taking 
place in Darfur creates an urgency that NATO do more by 
providing more training and logistic support to the African 
Union force.  He suggested that NATO could manage command 
and control and logistics and provide necessary resources 
to sustain the operation and also enforce a no-fly zone 
over part of Darfur to stop aggression by Sudanese Forces 
and the Janjaweed militia. 
 
¶14. (U) Ukrainian Defense Minister Grytsenko expanded on 
Senator McCain's comments in the previous panel, describing 
Russia as "pretending to be a member of the G8" and 
complaining that no one knows who is behind the holding 
company that has the monopoly on Russian fuel supply lines. 
He said that Ukraine has a good record of cooperation with 
NATO member states, especially in the context of NATO 
Balkans operations, in the Mediterranean, and in Iraq and 
Afghanistan, adding that Ukraine is willing to take on a 
larger role in shared security tasks.  In response to a 
question on the need for regional security cooperation, 
Grytsenko agreed, noting that he wants to see increased 
security cooperation in the Black Sea region and "frozen" 
conflict zones in the South Caucasus, and Transnistria. 
 
DEPUTY SECRETARY ZOELLICK, RUSSIAN DEFMIN AND GERMAN FM ON 
PROSPECTS FOR COOPERATION ON GLOBAL SECURITY ISSUES 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
¶15. (U) The third day of the conference began with a 
Russian Deputy Prime Minister/Defense Minister Ivanov, 
German Foreign Minister Steinmeier, and Deputy Secretary 
Zoellick discussing "Russian, Europe and the World - 
Prospects for Cooperation on Global Security Issues." 
Ivanov asserted that the focus of Russia's key economic and 
political interests remains in Europe.  He said that Russia 
is seeking to improve its export legislation, but argued 
that export control regimes must not be used as a cover-up 
for unfair competition or for ousting competitors from the 
military market.  He called for establishment of a joint 
front for combating international terrorism under the aegis 
of the UN to: a) end loopholes in international law and 
domestic legislation; and b) overcome double standards in 
evaluating terrorist threat, including by reaching a common 
definition of "terrorism," alleging that the failure of the 
West to criticize terrorists in Chechnya the same way they 
criticized terrorists elsewhere reflected a double 
standard. 
 
¶16. (U) Ivanov called for cooperation between Russia and 
Europe on energy.  He urged that the mechanism of the NATO- 
Russia council be transformed from a "political factor," 
into "practical actions" of the Alliance and Russian armed 
forces.  Ivanov said there is a rising concern about the 
destiny of the Conventional Forces Europe Treaty as NATO 
moves closer to the Russian borders, and faulted NATO for 
continuing to insist on linking ratification with 
implementation of the Istanbul commitments on Georgia and 
Moldova.  He predicted that talks on the future of the CFE 
at the third review conference in Vienna in May will be 
"complex." 
 
¶17. (U) In examining global security challenges, Deputy 
Secretary Zoellick said movements toward openness have 
 
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cleared the way for the rise of "political Islam," noting a 
struggle now exists for the soul of Islam.  He added that 
he hoped those who had raised their voices on the Danish 
cartoons also raise their voices on issues that go to the 
soul of Islam, such as bombings and beheadings.  The Deputy 
Secretary noted that Russia has overlapping interests with 
 
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Europe and the U.S., including internationalization of the 
 
nuclear fuel cycle and in developing China as a responsible 
stakeholder in the international system.  However, he 
expressed concerns about Russia, including that its "state 
capitalism" could impede economic development, and that 
Russia appeared to have a 19th Century view of the world, 
in which it seeks to keep neighbors weak and easily 
dominated.  The experience of the U.S. and EU shows that 
weak neighbors export problems, while stronger neighbors 
tend to bring stability.  The Deputy Secretary concluded by 
identifying four challenges that will define cooperation 
between the U.S, Europe, and Russia:  1) the leftover work 
from 1989 in the broader European sense; 2) the new 
challenges in the broader Middle East; 3) the rise of 
China; and 4) globalization. 
 
GLOBAL FOREIGN AND SECURITY INTEREST IN ASIA 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶18. (SBU) By the time the final panel, consisting of 
Chinese Vice Minister of the PRC Central Committee of the 
community Party Zhang Zhijun, India National Security 
Advisor Narayanan and Japanese Senior Vice Minister of 
Foreign Affairs Shiozaki on Global Foreign and Security 
Interests in Asia convened, most of the conference 
participants had departed.  The discussion was generally 
non-controversial on themes such as regional economic 
cooperation, but became livelier when the Chinese 
participant emotionally discussed the Taiwan issue and the 
visit of Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi to the war 
memorial. 
 
¶19.  This report was coordinated with Embassy Berlin. 
 
¶20.  Previous reporting from Munich is available on our 
SIPRNET website at www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/munich/. 
 
ROONEY