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C O N F I D E N T I A L USNATO 000251 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/09/2018 
TAGS: PREL MARR NATO AORC AM AJ RU GG SW FI AF
SUBJECT: JULY EAPC: OSCE BRIEF, UNSCR 1325, DEFENSE 
EDUCATION AND TRAINING 
 
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Richard G. Olson, Jr. 
for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: During their July 9 meeting, EuroAtlantic 
Partnership Council (EAPC) Ambassadors exchanged views with 
OSCE Secretary General Marc Perrin de Brichambaut, covering 
issues such as Afghanistan, Kosovo, and Georgia. The EAPC 
also received a briefing on defense education and training 
from Partnership for Peace Consortium Chairman Henri Bigo and 
discussed next steps in implementing UNSCR 1325 on women, 
peace and security. In a separate meeting with the Charge, de 
Brichambaut said the Russians had specifically asked him to 
pass on their offer to support the U.S. desire for increased 
OSCE cooperation on Afghanistan, in exchange for unspecified 
concessions in other areas. End summary. 
 
OSCE Secretary General's Presentation 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (C) OSCE SYG Marc Perrin de Brichambaut told the EAPC that 
NATO and the OSCE have a shared interest in promoting 
stability. He said the last 12 months have tested the 
commitment of nations to the OSCE principles at the most 
basic level. After highlighting the challenges facing the 
OSCE in election monitoring and assisting with the unresolved 
conflicts in Georgia, de Brichambaut shared his fear that the 
"deeply rooted impasse" in Kosovo may have entered a long 
period of ambiguity. De Brichambaut expressed his belief that 
international action is vital to protect human rights and 
fundamental freedoms in the Balkans. He also observed that 
OSCE action in Afghanistan and Central Asia was a part of the 
long term effort to consolidate security and democracy in 
these areas. De Brichambaut said OSCE effectiveness in 
Afghanistan will depend on the support of international 
organizations, other key countries, and Russia. De 
Brichambaut said the impasse over Russian suspension of the 
Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty concerns the entire OCSE 
community due to the importance of military transparency. 
Finally de Brichambaut asserted that the OSCE itself can only 
be effective insofar as the member states use it as a 
toolbox. He argued that political-military considerations 
cannot exist independently from economic and human-dimension 
concerns. In conclusion he said he looked forward to closer 
work with NATO, including through staff-to-staff 
consultations. 
 
¶3. (C) In response, Finland said that enhancing OSCE-NATO 
cooperation is a priority for its chairmanship of the OSCE. 
Austria, Spain, Germany and France asked what the OSCE could 
do to enhance its role in Afghanistan, with Spain and Germany 
specifically mentioning elections as an area to focus on. 
Spain, Greece, and Hungary asked about OSCE activity in 
Kosovo, while the Serbian representative took this 
opportunity to express his thanks for a statement in 2007 by 
de Brichambaut that Kosovo could become a precedent. Serbia 
also expressed "profound gratitude" to the countries present 
that had not recognized Kosovo. Russia said the OSCE should 
play an adequate role in international security, and hoped 
nations could work together to creatively solve the CFE 
impasse. 
 
¶4. (C) Georgia expressed gratitude to the OSCE SYG, saying 
the OSCE had been helpful in the separatist conflicts. The 
Czech Republic supported this view and called for more OSCE, 
EU, and UN attention in the South Caucasus. Russia expressed 
concern about escalating tensions in Georgia adding that 
Moscow could not agree with the suggestion that peacekeeping 
formats for the separatist conflicts be changed. 
 
¶5. (C) Armenia spoke of the OSCE as a key asset for conflict 
resolution, prompting Azerbaijan to assert its commitment to 
democracy, human, rights and the rule of law. Azerbaijan and 
Armenia traded well-known positions on the situation in 
Nagorno Karabakh, causing other delegations to roll their 
eyes at the proceedings. 
 
¶6. (C) U.S. Charge Olson deployed guidance praising the work 
of OSCE in promoting human rights and democratic elections in 
Europe and Eurasia.  Olson highlighted the work of ODIHR, 
which, he said, is at the forefront of promoting, protecting 
and defending shared values that are critical to democracy 
 
and democratic development. He called on the OSCE to play a 
proactive and creative role in working on the frozen 
conflicts. The U.S. also strongly supported the OSCE's 
engagement in Afghanistan, asserting that activities must 
take place inside of Afghanistan to have any real impact. 
 
OSCE Secretary General's Bilat with the U.S. Charge 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶7. (C) In a separate meeting with Charge Olson, de 
Brichambaut suggested that the Russians were not yet in 
support of the OSCE proposals for Afghanistan. He said the 
Russians had directly asked him why "the U.S. does not ask us 
directly to support their proposal" and that they had added 
that if the U.S. were to do so "we will see what we might ask 
of them." He said Russia had asked him to relay that message 
directly to the U.S.  He did not know what specifically they 
might be seeking from the U.S., but was clear that the 
Russians see the U.S. as the demandeur on this program. 
 
¶8. (C) Charge Olson replied that the U.S. tries to avoid 
linked deals of the sort the Russians seem to be seeking. 
While the Russians repeatedly try to initiate negotiations of 
this kind, the U.S. usually resists their efforts to make a 
grand bargain and prefers to stick to the specifics of an 
issue.  The SYG noted that the Russians should ideally 
realize that secure borders for Afghanistan were in Russia's 
interest too.  The SYG's Chief of Staff Paul Fritch remarked 
that involvement of the CSTO was the most obvious demand the 
Russians would seek. The Charge responded that such a request 
would likely be a bridge too far in a NATO context. 
 
¶9. (C) Olson stressed the importance of the OSCE program 
operating inside Afghanistan. De Brichambaut replied that he 
would have to take things one step at a time -- once the 
program is approved the OSCE can look at other options, such 
as increasing the presence inside Afghanistan and training 
the Afghan customs force.  Reacting to the comments of 
several nations in the EAPC meeting that the OSCE should play 
a role in assisting with the set up of the Afghan elections, 
the SYG said he would discuss the possibility with the head 
of ODHIR and thought it would be politically and financially 
feasible. 
 
¶10. (C) The SYG said he has been telling the Russians that, 
if they were serious about Medvedev's proposal for a European 
Security Treaty, they would need to define it more and decide 
in which venue it will be discussed.  The SYG said he had 
discussed with Russian Deputy FM Grushko the possibility of 
using OSCE Vienna as the venue.  Grushko had told him Russia 
felt it could not wait until the next U.S. administration to 
begin talks on this issue. 
 
¶11. (C) The SYG asked about the July 18 Friends of Kosovo 
meeting in Brussels, saying he had been hearing from many 
participants that they are not expecting much to come out of 
it.  Olson explained the background to the meeting, stressing 
that an OSCE and UN presence were important as a way to give 
cover to the Turks to allow the EU and NATO to have a meeting 
together.  The SYG said he would have to protect the Finnish 
Presidency from Russian anger about the OSCE participating, 
but still thought the OSCE would be able to attend. 
 
Defense Education and Training - Resources Needed 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶12. (C) During the EAPC Ambassadorial, Mr. Henry Bigo, 
Executive Director of the PfP Consortium of Defense Academies 
and Security Studies Institute, briefed on EAPC/PfP education 
and training goals, programs, and activities.  Bigo also 
encouraged the EAPC to take a good look at the published Food 
for Thought paper (e-mailed to EUR-RPM), which provides the 
"way-ahead" for the PfP Consortium.  He reminded Ambassadors 
that the Consortium relies on a small budget (less than USD 
1M per year) and could benefit from additional assistance. 
 
¶13. (C) Bigo requested three areas of assistance from the 
EAPC:  (I)  A broader base of contributor nations to the 
Consortium; (II) Direct-funding by Partner nations to their 
defense colleges, institutions, and faculty to serve PfP 
Consortium projects, education, and training.  (III) 
 
Voluntary contributions of national staff for the Consortium. 
 (Bigo did not request a specific number, but noted that they 
currently rely on 3 full-time staff members). 
 
¶14. (C) The Secretary General - assisted by Canada - provided 
additional background on the Canadian-led PAP-DIB (Defense 
Institution Building) Reference Curriculum that aims to 
provide NATO partner and emerging partner nations with 
in-depth learning objectives and curriculum support on 
building and reforming defense institutions.  The Curriculum 
centers on three themes: public administration and 
governance, defense management and economics, and ethics and 
leadership. 
 
¶15. (C) EAPC Partners were quick to support the initiatives 
and activities of the PfP Consortium.  The U.S. noted support 
for the program, encouraged specificity of programming to 
Partnership requirements, and requested that activities be 
linked to an EAPC Work Plan, IPAP, or PfP PARP criteria. 
This theme of "tailoring activities towards Partners' 
requirements" was echoed by other nations including 
Switzerland, Romania, Georgia, and Azerbaijan.  Mr. Bigo 
later indicated that it is the Consortium's intent to tailor 
activities to Partner nations' needs and requirements. 
 
¶16. (C) The SECGEN concluded the discussion by appealing to 
EAPC nations to review their contributions and assistance, 
noting that, "high quality education and training cannot be 
made available on the cheap." 
 
UNSCR 1325 - Guidelines and a Policy to be Developed 
Sweden to lead a PRT Study in Afghanistan 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶17. (C) The SYG announced that Allies had decided to adopt 
the following approach in developing NATO,s commitment to 
the principles of UNSCR 1325: 
 
(I) The International Military Staff (IMS) will task Allied 
Command Operations and Allied Command Transformation with 
developing "bi-strategic guidelines" that will provide 
pragmatic guidance to commanders and their troops. 
 
(II) The NATO International Staff (IS) and the IMS will work 
together to develop a policy paper, drawing on national and 
international organizational experience. 
 
(III) An ad-hoc working group of Allies (membership to be 
determined) will meet to consider the policy, and will then 
consult with partners. 
 
(IV) The final paper would be returned to the North Atlantic 
Council for endorsement. 
 
¶18. (C) Allies and Partners welcomed this approach but many 
also expressed frustration that it had taken so long to reach 
this point.  Austria, Canada, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, 
Norway, Switzerland, Montenegro, Spain, France and Germany 
all spoke of their national support for UNSCR 1325 and looked 
forward to progress. France suggested EU work on the issue 
could inspire a coherent approach. Swedish Ambassador 
Veronika Wand Danielsson announced that Denmark, Finland, the 
Netherlands, Norway and Sweden will conduct a joint study on 
improving the effectiveness of PRTs in Afghanistan in 
applying UNSCR 1325. The study is to be completed by Spring 
¶2009. Wand Danielsson hoped that all Allies and Partners 
would support this work, including by accepting researchers 
into their PRTs (Note: In a follow up conversation with the 
Swedish Mission to NATO, PolOff learned that planning for 
this effort is at the earliest stages. The group plans to 
meet in Stockholm in September to launch the project 
proposal, as well as to plan the study trips. Sweden's 
minutes of the group's initial meeting have been forwarded to 
EUR/RPM. This development will undoubtedly lead to requests 
for U.S. assistance. End note.) 
OLSON