VZCZCXRO0406
RR RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV
DE RUEHTH #1463/01 2951215
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 211215Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY ATHENS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2665
INFO RUCNMEU/EU INTEREST COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUEHIK/AMCONSUL THESSALONIKI 1963

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ATHENS 001463 
 
SIPDIS 
 
EEB/ODF; EUR/ACE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KMCA KCRS EAID EFIN PREL GR
SUBJECT: GREEK GOVERNMENT'S PLANS FOR OCTOBER 22 GEORGIA 
DONORS' CONFERENCE 
 
REF: A. SECSTATE 109212 
     ¶B. ATHENS 1338 
     ¶C. ATHENS 1288 
     ¶D. ATHENS 1455 
 
ATHENS 00001463  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary.  On October 16, the Embassy raised reftel 
A points regarding the October 22 Georgia Donors' Conference 
with the MFA and the head of Hellenic Aid.  Both indicated 
that while additional funding may potentially be forthcoming, 
the GoG does not appear prepared to make a pledge during the 
Brussels conference.  Instead, the GoG plans to use its 
attendance at next week's conference to better evaluate 
Georgia's real assistance needs.  The GoG remains committed 
to showing its support for Georgia, but additional GoG 
funding may fall victim to the financial crisis and resulting 
Greek budgetary and political realities.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) EconCouns and DepEconCouns inquired about the 
donors' conference during a meeting with Ambassador 
Mercourios Karafotias, the new Director General of Hellenic 
Aid.  Ambassador Karafotias indicated that he is likely to be 
the GoG representative at next week's conference, but that 
the GoG likely will not make a pledge at this time. 
Recapping the 753,000 euros (see reftels B and C) in GoG 
assistance provided to Georgia thus far, he emphasized that 
the GoG remains committed to supporting the EU position on 
Georgia's political integrity and sovereignty.  Karafotias 
claimed that while the GoG expects and is prepared to give 
more assistance to Georgia, it does not at this time have 
enough information on Georgia's specific needs to develop an 
appropriate assistance package.  DepEconCouns pointed to the 
recently-concluded World Bank Joint Needs Assessment (JNA) 
and outlined its findings, as well as the hope that EU member 
states would be generous during the conference and try to 
match the 500 million euros pledged by the European 
Commission.  Karafotias said that while he was not familiar 
with the JNA, he expects that Georgia's specific needs will 
be the focus of discussions at the donors' conference, after 
which time, the GoG will consider what additional support to 
provide.  (Note: Following the meeting, we forwarded the JNA 
to Karafotias and his staff.) 
 
¶3. (SBU) Ambassador Karafotias went on to share two points 
regarding further assistance to Georgia.  First, he urged the 
government of Georgia and the international community to 
ensure that sufficient assistance resources enter South 
Ossetia.  Karafotias is concerned that if the Georgian 
government does not allow assistance to enter South Ossetia 
unhindered from Georgian territory, then the only other 
alternative would be for assistance to have to go through 
Russia.  In his opinion, this would be bad optics for Georgia 
and could contribute to de facto recognition. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Second, he noted that the GoG has experienced some 
problems with delivering their in-kind assistance to Georgia. 
 For example, according to Karafotias, two trucks loaded with 
humanitarian supplies (blankets, tents, medical items) sat at 
a border checkpoint in Georgia for two weeks after entering 
from Turkey until the paperwork could be worked out by 
Georgian authorities.  Both the EconCouns and DepEconCouns 
tried to ease his concerns by noting that South Ossetia was 
included, to the extent possible given security 
considerations, in the JNA and would have assistance targeted 
to its needs.  On the issue of delivery of assistance, 
EconCouns urged the GoG to immediately relay any further 
obstacles they encountered to the U.S. Embassy so we could 
try to work with our Embassy in Georgia to resolve the issues 
and speed the provision of critical humanitarian supplies. 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  In a separate meeting on October 16 (see reftel 
D), the DCM asked MFA Secretary General Agathocles what 
Greece would pledge at the conference.  Agathocles replied 
that Greece might give additional funding but noted that the 
Greek budget was under much pressure due to the financial 
crisis.  He explained that while the MFA could understand the 
need to support Georgia -- and that the amount would hardly 
have an impact on the overall budget -- politicians outside 
foreign-policy circles were likely to complain about 
supporting the Georgians when Greeks were entering 
increasingly difficult economic times. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Comment.  Embassy discussions with the GoG showed a 
slightly less forward-leaning stance on further assistance to 
Georgia than was the case one month ago (see reftels B and 
C).  In the case of Karafotias, he was more reserved than his 
predecessor Ambassador Mitrogogos was on this issue.  It is 
not clear whether this is because of his genuine concerns 
about getting the pledge right, or if it is due to emerging 
 
ATHENS 00001463  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
Greek budget realities.  It is probably not a stretch to say 
that the credit crisis and the resulting pressure on the 
Greek economy are likely to have some impact on Greece's 
donor pocketbook.  The Embassy will continue to press the GoG 
to reach deep into its pockets and put more meat on the bones 
of its public statements of support for Georgia.  End Comment. 
SPECKHARD