VZCZCXRO3281
PP RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHLA RUEHMRE RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHNO #0405/01 1860515
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 050515Z JUL 07
FM USMISSION USNATO
TO RUEHCH/AMEMBASSY CHISINAU PRIORITY 0122
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1022
INFO RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE
RUCNOSC/OSCE COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 USNATO 000405 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NOFORN 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/04/2017 
TAGS: PREL MARR KCFE NATO ML
SUBJECT: NAC-MOLDOVA CONSULTATIONS JULY 4 FOCUS ON 
TRANSNISTRIA AND DEFENSE REFORM 
 
REF: A. MOLDOVA'S IPAP DOCUMENT (E-MAILED TO EUR/RPM) 
     ¶B. USNATO 013107 
 
Classified By: Charge Ian Kelly for reasons 1.4 (b), (d). 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
¶1. (C) Molodvan FM Stratan and Acting DefMin Ion Coropcean 
consulted with the North Atlantic Council (NAC) on Moldova's 
Individual Partnership Action Plan July 4.  NATO SYG de Hoop 
Scheffer said that Moldova had made a good start, but 
strategic concepts still needed to be defined to guide the 
more intense implementation work to follow.  Separatist 
Transnistria drew considerable attention from the nuts and 
bolts of defense reform issues, with Stratan calling for the 
introduction of a civilian international mission under 
international mandate.  He, along with Allies, committed to 
continue working through the "5 2" format (including the U.S. 
and EU, along with the OSCE, Russia, Ukraine, and the two 
parties to the dispute), and to continue to insist on the 
withdrawal of Russian troops.  End Summary. 
 
FROM PLANNING TO IMPLEMENTATION 
------------------------------- 
¶2. (C) NATO PermReps engaged Molodvan Foreign Minister 
(Deputy Prime Minister) Andrei Stratan and Acting Defense 
Minister Ion Coropcean on Moldova's Individual Partnership 
Action Plan (IPAP - REF A) implementation on July 4.  NATO 
Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer recalled that 
 
SIPDIS 
Moldova's IPAP process began with President Voronin's meeting 
with the NAC in June 2005, and that the current meeting drew 
on the findings of a March 2007 NATO expert team's 
assessments of the plan's implementation.  (NOTE:  Stratan 
and then-DefMin Plesca last met with the NAC on January 31 - 
REF B.)  The SYG previewed the Moldovans' presentation by 
noting that they had made a good start on the IPAP by setting 
up requisite administrative structures and working on an 
overarching National Security Concept (NSC), but that the NSC 
still needed to be completed and the political will mobilized 
to begin putting the ambitious plan into action. 
 
FOCUS ON TRANSNISTRIA 
--------------------- 
¶3. (C) On Transnistria, FM Stratan thanked Allies for their 
"support and cohesion" at the Vienna CFE Conference that had 
"provided confidence to nations in the former Soviet space." 
He pledged to keep pressing to address the issue through the 
"5 2" framework (the U.S. and EU included as observers of the 
"3 2" Russian, Ukrainian, and OSCE mediation of 
Moldova-Transnistria negotiations).  Stratan strongly denied 
"rumors and hearsay" that Moldova was negotiating a bilateral 
agreement with Russia on Transnistria.  President Voronin's 
meeting with President Putin had naturally addressed 
Transnistria, he said, recalling that Voronin had briefed the 
U.S., Russia, Ukraine, EU member states, and OSCE and COE 
representatives on those talks on June 22.  He said that 
Moscow had agreed to convene the 5 2 "soon."  In response to 
numerous questions about possible peacekeeping formulae for 
Transnistria, he specified that Moldova wanted to replace the 
current Russian peacekeeping troops with "a civilian 
international mission under international mandate." 
 
IPAP IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGES 
------------------------------ 
¶4. (C) On the IPAP, he expressed satisfaction with NATO's 
cooperation and regular, high-level consultations.  He said 
the IPAP process represented a clear political message of 
Moldova's firm commitment to Euro-Atlantic integration and 
that its defense structures would be "based on Western 
standards" while "in conformity with Moldovan neutrality." 
He insisted that Moldova's reforms were already irreversible. 
 Noting that it was the U.S. Independence Day, he expressed 
appreciation for our "bilateral security and defense 
assistance, constant support on Transnistria and other 
problems."  Stratan also acknowledged the support of the U.S. 
Partnership Training Center in Monterey and bilateral 
assistance from Latvia (a defense adviser), the UK (defense 
equipment inventory), and the EU (energy and agriculture 
support).  Acknowledging that the NSC document which is to 
underlie Moldova's national security and military strategies 
had not been completed on schedule, he urged Allies "to avoid 
reciprocal blaming" ) the only sour note in either of the 
Ministers' presentations.  A/DM Coropcean focused his remarks 
on substantive issues of defense reform:  the drafting of the 
Strategic Defense Review, Moldova's initial participation in 
the EUCOM-coordinated South East Europe Clearinghouse 
mechanism, and advances in defense planning and budgeting 
processes. 
 
USNATO 00000405  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
U.S. ) HOLD THE COURSE, BUILD SOME STEAM 
---------------------------------------- 
¶5. (C) Allied comments were positive but measured, 
highlighting the substantial IPAP implementation work still 
ahead for Moldova.  U.S. Charge Ian Kelly saluted Moldova's 
solidarity in Iraq, noting that it had recently dispatched 
its fifth contingent of soldiers (eight engineers and three 
staff officers taking part in explosives disposal 
operations).  He focused his comments on the need to 
strengthen Moldova's commitment to defense reform and holding 
the course on Transnistria. 
 
ALLIES ) FOCUS ON TRANSNISTRIA 
------------------------------ 
¶6. (C) Romania, representing NATO's Contact Point Embassy in 
Moldova, said Moldova had "tested its capacity and will" in 
the IPAP process and stressed that stronger political will 
and high level engagement was necessary to move forward. 
Romania called for placing priority on completing Moldova's 
strategic planning documents and launching a public diplomacy 
task force.  (Romania has underwritten a NATO Information 
Center to be opened in Chisinau this Autumn.)  Spain, 
speaking for the OSCE, commented on Moldova's electoral 
performance, and probed for Moldovan ideas for replacing 
current Transnistria peacekeeping arrangements.  Germany 
argued that there would be little utility in contemplating 
changes in the current Transnistria peacekeeping force 
without an overarching settlement of the dispute, and also 
spotlighted the need to put more effort into combating 
domestic corruption.  The Czech Republic, Lithuania, Latvia, 
Hungary, and Poland followed in similar veins.  Stratan and 
Coropcean addressed those and a range of more detailed 
questions.  The SYG concluded the meeting by pointing to the 
genuine interest of Allies in Moldova's security concerns and 
a call for vigorous action on defense reforms. 
KELLY