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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BRUSSELS 000822 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NOFORN 
SIPDIS 
 
EUR FOR DAS BRYZA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/12/2017 
TAGS: PREL ECON EAID GG EUN
SUBJECT: EU DEBATES NEXT STEPS ON GEORGIA 
 
 
Classified By: Polmincouns Laurence Wohlers for reasons 1.5 (D) and (E) 
. 
 
SUMMARY AND COMMENT 
-------------------- 
¶1. (C)  On March 6, the European Council's Political and 
Security Committee (PSC) debated the recommendations of a 
joint Commission/Council Expert Team to Georgia led by EU 
Special Representative to the Caucasus Peter Semneby. 
Nordic, Central and East European Member States strongly 
supported the team's recommendations for strengthening and 
expanding EU technical support in Georgia and the conflict 
areas, but faced stiff opposition from Mediterranean 
countries led by Greece. NCE states also mustered little 
support from "old" Europe and the Germany Presidency.  After 
a lengthy debate, PSC Ambassadors delegated further 
consideration of specific recommendations to lower-level 
expert working groups.  End Given the lack of strong support 
from a major EU player (e.g, UK, France, or Germany) it looks 
as though debate over a beefed up EU presence in Georgia drag 
out indefinitely in various Council deliberative bodies. 
Consequently, one option is for the Commission to simply move 
forward independently with enhanced programming consistent 
with its existing mandate.  Considerable senior staff 
turnover in DG RELEX and lack of strong champion elsewhere in 
the Commission institutions will make this problematic. 
Discussions here next week with DAS Bryza will be 
particularly in timely in this regard.  End Summary and 
Comment. 
 
¶2. (C/NF)  The Political and Security Committee of the 
European Council met on March 6 to hear a formal presentation 
of the summary report of the EU Expert Team Mission to 
Georgia.  Led by European Union Special Representative Peter 
Semneby (Sweden), the joint mission of Commission and Council 
policy experts traveled to Georgia in 
mandate to explore ways contribute to 
securisis and repage 
summary of sensitivutates underlined the needre 
carefully.  In generQ agreed on the 
imporQlict 
Resolution Ministry; 
-- Keeping Russia inforQed; 
-- Enhancing the protection of the rights of all minorities 
in Georgia; 
-- Ensuring that contacts with Abkhazia and South Ossetia 
should go via Tbilisi; 
-- Pursuing demining activities; and 
-- Pursing measures related to economic rehabilitation, 
including of the railway through Abkhazia. 
 
NCE Countries Seek Action 
------------------------- 
¶4. (C) According to one contact who attended the debate, 
several member states, including Latvia, Poland, Lithuania, 
the Czech Republic, Estonia, and Slovakia, stated that they 
could endorse, in general terms, all of the recommendations 
contained in the report.  The Netherlands agreed in general 
terms with the options proposed but underlined the need for 
further consideration of some of the ideas.  Lithuania's PSC 
Ambassador emphasized that the credibility of the EU was at 
stake in this exercise and that Georgia expected some action 
from the EU. 
 
 
BRUSSELS 00000822  002 OF 003 
 
 
But the Med Pushes Back 
------------------------ 
¶5.  (C) Whereas Sweden and the UK expressed support for some 
of the recommendations in the report, they agreed with 
Denmark, on the need to study some of the recommendations in 
further detail.  Mediterranean countries either raised 
concerns or opposed any concrete decisions outright. 
Representatives from Greece and Cyprus said they could not 
agree to the PSC undertaking any operational conclusions or 
concrete taskings.  Two contacts who participated in the 
debate separately commented to us that Greek positions and 
rhetoric on Georgia were eerily similar to those of Russia. 
France counseled "prudence" and Portugal and Spain asked for 
"further study" with respect to nearly every recommendation 
of the expert team.  According to a Council Secretariat 
source, the German Presidency did not attempt to steer the 
debate in any particular direction. A Baltic PSC Ambassador 
speculated that the unhelpful Cypriot stance was payback for 
the Lithuanian positions at the recent EU Defense Ministerial 
in Wiesebaden.  Lithuania reportedly irritated Cyprus with 
its forward-leaning views on EU-NATO cooperation and negative 
views on establishing a permanent EU military headquarters. 
 
For Georgia "proper": A Truth Commission? 
----------------------------------------- 
¶6.  (C) Under the rubric of strengthening the Georgian 
conflict resolution ministry, establishing a Truth and 
Reconciliation Commission (TRC).  Poland agreed to this 
proposal.  Sweden was open to the issue.  Cyprus and Portugal 
expressed skepticism.  Denmark asserted a TRC was 
"premature", and Greece was "very hesitant." 
 
Nervousness over new measures in the breakaway regions 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
¶7.  (C) JCC:  Poland, Hungary, Slovenia, and Denmark 
supported the proposal for a Joint Control Commission for 
South Ossetia, possibly in Brussels.  Portugal supported the 
idea so long as all parties in the JCC agreed. 
 
8:  (C) Police experts: Estonia, Lithuania and Poland were 
supportive of the team's proposal to co-locate a police 
expert with the OSCE in South Ossetia and another one with 
UNOMIG police component in Zugdidi.  The Netherlands, 
Portugal, and Denmark were hesitant, France cautioned 
"prudence" (NFI); the UK and Sweden agreed, but pointed out 
the need for close cooperation with the OSCE and UN.  Greece 
and Cyprus opposed the proposal; Cyprus called it a 
"mini-ESDP mission." 
 
¶9. (C) Customs:  Poland, the UK, Estonia, Sweden and 
Lithuania supported the expert team's proposals to detail a 
customs expert to Georgia in order to develop a customs 
project to promote capacity building and legal trade across 
the administrative borders of Georgia, South Ossetia and 
Abkhazia.  France expressed interest and agreed with the 
report's analysis of the problem of certification of origin 
of products, but warned against any attempt to transform such 
a project into an EU Border Assistance Mission for Georgia. 
Cyprus was reticent.  Greece cautioned against any kind of 
involvement in issues related to Russia-Georgia talks on 
Russian accession to the WTO. 
 
¶10.  (C) Border management:  Several NCE countries supported 
the team's proposals to revise the mandate of the EUSR in 
order for the EUSR Border Support Team to deal with issues 
related to Georgia's conflict areas. Again, France cautioned 
"prudence." 
 
¶11.  (C) Opening of new EU information centers in Soukhumi 
and Tskinvali:  Latvia agreed, but Greece raised concerns. 
 
¶12. (C) Greece also asserted that some of the measures 
proposed were not short term but actually long-term measures 
or even a "strategy towards Georgia."  As such, Greece argued 
that the EU should be extremely careful in this respect. 
Greece also alerted to the need not to engage in activities 
that could be perceived as "an attempt to change the existing 
negotiating formats." 
 
Follow up Action 
---------------- 
¶13. (C) Cyprus and Greece were also opposed to any kind of 
tasking to the Civilian Crisis Response Committee (CIVCOM). 
Eventually the PSC agreed to "invite" CIVCOM to "look into 
relevant parts of the report."  The PSC also tasked COEST 
working-level experts to consider the long version of the 
report in more detail and respond to the PSC "as soon as 
possible."  (Note: COEST capitals-based experts are planning 
to devote their April 25 meeting to the Caucasus/Black Sea 
 
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issues.) 
GRAY 
.