VZCZCXRO5975
RR RUEHAG RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHTH #0996/01 1960553
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 140553Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY ATHENS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2147
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 1024
RUEHTH/AMCONSUL THESSALONIKI 1910

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ATHENS 000996 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/14/2018 
TAGS: ENRG GR PGOV PREL RS CVIS KCRM EU EPET
SUBJECT: GREEK PARLIAMENT'S STEFANOU ON TGI, SOUTH STREAM, 
SIOUFAS TRIP TO RUSSIA, MLAT AND HSPD-6 
 
Classified By: A/DCM Clark Price for 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
------- 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (C) In a meeting on July 10, the Secretary General of 
Parliament, Nikos Stefanou, voiced his support for the TGI 
pipeline and confirmed the GoG,s strong support for this 
project.  At the same time, he expressed skepticism on South 
Stream, implying there is no concrete plan in place for its 
development.  Speaking on Greek Parliament President Dimitris 
Sioufas, late-June trip to Russia, Stefanou noted the 
Russians went out of their way to make the Greek delegation 
feel at home, including by scheduling an out of the blue 
meeting with former President Putin.  On other issues, 
Stefanou told the Acting DCM and the Acting Political and 
Economic Counselors that we can count on Parliamentary 
ratification of the U.S/EU Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty 
(MLAT) and Extradition Treaty this summer.  Finally, Stefanou 
promised that he will advise President Sioufas of the need 
for quick Parliamentary authorization for the GOG to conclude 
the U.S./Greece HSPD-6 Agreement, once final agreement on the 
text is reached.  End Summary. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
TGI: GoG in Position to be &First out of the Gate8 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶2. (C) A/DCM gave Stefanou a quick update on TGI, indicating 
he thought the project was well advanced with a well-defined 
consumer in Edison and a planned transit route through 
Greece.  A/DCM indicated that once the Azerbaijani-Turkish 
transit dispute was resolved, Greece is set up to be the 
&first out of the gate8 with TGI supplying the first 
Azerbaijani gas to Europe.  A/DCM emphasized, however, that 
it was critical now more than ever to continue to underline 
to the Azerbaijanis strong GoG support for the TGI through 
visits and vocal public statemens.  Finally, A/DCM stressed 
the key role to be played by private sector Greek power 
produers in securing Azerbaijani gas supply for the reek 
market. 
 
¶3.  (C) Stefanou concurred tht TGI was a secure, mature 
project.  Most imprtantly, Stefanou said, Prime Minister 
Karamalis wants it to go forward in order to place Greece in 
the position of connecting Asia and Europe.  On the other 
hand, Stefanou claimed not to be optimistic about South 
Stream.  He believes that the GoG opened up the game on South 
Stream, but has no idea how to finish it, implying that 
details on the pipeline remain vague and uncertain. 
 
----------------------------- 
Russia: You are Most Welcome! 
----------------------------- 
 
¶4. (C) Turning to his and President Sioufas, 29-30 June trip 
to Russia, Stefanou indicated that they were acting on a 
year-old invitation from the Russian Duma.  Stefanou,s 
overall impressions of the visit and the meetings were that 
the Russian government went out of its way to make the Greek 
Parliamentary delegation feel at home.  He and Sioufas met 
with, among others, former President Putin, Minister of Trade 
and Industry Victor Christenko, and Chairman of the Duma 
Gryzlov.  Stefanou indicated they were caught off guard by 
the meeting with Putin, whose office contacted Sioufas out of 
the blue soon after his arrival in Moscow and requested a 
meeting.   Stefanou described the encounter as the typical 
official meeting, but said that it was clear to him that 
Putin still wielded much respect and power.  Immediately 
before his meeting with Sioufas, according to Stefanou, Putin 
had met with the U.S. Ambassador to Russia.  The Greek 
Parliamentary delegation did not meet with Russian president 
Medvedev.  (Note:  We understand that the Kremlin has tended 
to follow a strict policy of foreign legislators meeting only 
with t Sioufas got such 
high-level attention is another indication of closer 
G2eek-Russian relations.  End Note) 
 
------------------------------------- 
U.S./EU MLAT and Extradition Treaties 
and HSPD-6: Swift Action Promised 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (C) A/PolCouns briefed Stefanou on the U.S./EU MLAT and 
Extradition Treaties and the bilateral HSPD-6 issues, which 
both soon will be on the Greek Parliament,s agenda.  On the 
U.S./EU MLAT and Extradition Treaties, A/PolCouns indicated 
that Greece was one of a very small number of EU states that 
had not yet ratified these instruments.  Given that they had 
been concluded during the Greek EU Presidency, A/PolCouns 
urged that Parliamentary review be expedited.  Stefanou was 
well briefed on the subject and emphatically stated that the 
Embassy can count on him, and that Parliament would ratify 
the U.S./EU instruments during this summer's session.  On 
HSPD-6, A/PolCouns told Stefanou that Minister of Foreign 
Affairs Bakoyannis has advised Ambassador Speckhard that 
Parliamentary approval will be necessary for the MFA to sign 
the HSPD-6 agreement on behalf of the GoG, and that she has 
pledged that this will be obtained quickly during 
Parliament,s summer session.  A/PolCouns noted that the U.S. 
and Greece have not yet agreed on a final text, but that we 
are likely close, and Parliamentary action would be necessary 
quite soon.  Stefanou responded that he would brief Sioufas 
on the issue, and that he was certain Sioufas would 
coordinate with FM Bakoyannis to move this document quickly 
through the Parliamentary approval process.  He noted, 
however, that even the Greek summer legislative session 
(which is comprised of 50 of the 300 MPs who have authority 
to review/approve urgent matters) will not work August 1 - 
25, and that "no business" will be concluded during that 
time. 
 
------------ 
Visit to DC? 
------------ 
 
¶6. (C) During the meeting, Stefanou indicated that President 
Sioufas would like to visit Congress this fall.  While A/DCM 
noted that the Embassy strongly supports such a visit, we 
cautioned Stefanou that this fall may not be an optimal time 
for such a visit, as we anticipate a short fall session of 
Congress due to the election.  We suggested that a better 
time would be following the election and once the new 
Congress has been seated in early 2009.  Stefanou seemed open 
to this idea, and we will continue to encourage this timing, 
as we want to ensure that when he does come, we are able to 
receive him and any accompanying delegation appropriately, as 
he has been an important and positive contact on a wide range 
of issues of mutual interest, including energy policy. 
SPECKHARD