VZCZCXRO3833
RR RUEHAST RUEHFL RUEHLA RUEHMRE RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSR
DE RUEHHE #0561/01 3461346
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 111346Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY HELSINKI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4700
INFO RUCNOSC/ORGANIZATION FOR SECURITY COOPERATION IN EUROPE
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 0137

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HELSINKI 000561 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PARM PHUM OSCE FI GG RS IR IS CH IN
PK, AF 
SUBJECT: U/S BURNS MEETS FINNISH FM AND OSCE CIO ALEXANDER 
STUBB 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  U/S Burns met Finnish Foreign Minister and 
OSCE Chairman in Office (CiO) Alexander Stubb on the margins 
of the OSCE Ministerial Council meeting December 4 in 
Helsinki.  Burns provided Stubb an update on Secretary Rice's 
trip to India, and Stubb replied that was where she needed to 
be.  Stubb indicated Finland would plus up its troop presence 
in Afghanistan once it downsized deployments in Kosovo and 
Bosnia.  Stubb, who had just come from meeting Russian FM 
Lavrov, declared his hopes for an OSCE political declaration, 
though he noted that the Russians had deep red lines on the 
indivisibility of security and also on Georgia and CFE. 
Stubb said a new OSCE Georgia mandate was likely to include a 
Special Representative for missions in Georgia and South 
Ossetia.  On Iran, Stubb reaffirmed Finland's support for the 
EU3 position.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Participants 
 
U.S. 
 
U/S Burns 
EUR A/S Fried 
Ambassador to Finland Barbara Barrett 
EUR DAS Matthew Bryza 
P Special Assistant David Van Cleve 
USOSCE Dep. Pol Couns. Andrew Hyde 
Embassy Helsinki Notetaker: Jane Messenger 
 
Finland 
 
FM Alexander Stubb 
OSCE Task Force Chair Aleksi Harkonen 
DG Elina Kalkku 
Special Assistant Jori Arvonen 
North America Unit Director Anna Wickstrom 
Desk Officer Jyri Jarviaho 
Executive Assistant Katarina Prepula 
 
Update on Secretary Rice's Trip to South Asia 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) U/S Burns congratulated FM Stubb on a successful 
year as OSCE CiO and noted that Finland took the reins during 
a challenging period.  Stubb said he understood why Secretary 
Rice had to cancel her original plan to attend the 
Ministerial Council meeting in Helsinki and he welcomed U/S 
Burns' readout of her trip.  Burns noted that it was 
important for Secretary Rice to travel to the region to 
provide reassurance to the Indians and to press the 
Pakistanis to provide clear and tangible evidence that they 
are making efforts to address the situation.  Burns also 
confirmed that India and Afghanistan were top priorities for 
the U.S. presidential transition team. 
 
OSCE Ministerial Council Meeting Political Declaration 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶4. (SBU) FM Stubb arrived for his meeting with the U.S. 
delegation having just met with Russian FM Lavrov.  Stubb 
expressed hope for a political declaration, but noted that 
the Russians had deep red lines on the indivisibility of 
security as well as on Georgia and CFE.  Including anything 
on Kosovo was also a non-starter unless it included mention 
of the OSCE mission mandate.  "They are playing cat and 
mouse," Stubb said and indicated that he would press on the 
indivisibility of security and make cosmetic changes to 
statements on Georgia and CFE.  U/S Burns observed that 
Russian President Medvedev's attitude toward European 
security architecture is long with complaints and short on 
specific ideas the Russians actually support.  Stubb said he 
would keep resisting Russian efforts to include issues out of 
the OSCE context.  Ambassador Harkonen said that unless the 
Russians give up certain points, there would not be a 
declaration.  (Note: There was no declaration in the end.) 
Stubb concluded by noting that the EU and NATO remain the 
cornerstones for European security. 
 
OSCE Mandate for Georgia 
------------------------ 
 
¶5. (SBU) Stubb said that there were three options for an 
extension of the OSCE mission mandate in Georgia.  1) 
technical rollover, which Moscow would not allow; 2) a full 
mandate renewal, which was unrealistic or 3) a compromise 
negotiated by the CiO's Special Envoy Ambassador Heikki 
Talvatie, that would establish separate offices in Tbilisi 
and Tshkinvali with mandates in all three OSCE baskets minus 
conflict resolution.  The offices would be under the auspices 
of a Vienna-based Special Representative, who would have the 
 
HELSINKI 00000561  002 OF 002 
 
 
lead on conflict resolution.  DAS Bryza noted that the 
Russians did not quite understand that under the plan the 
mission would be run out of Vienna.  Stubb replied that the 
Finns would travel to Moscow on December 8 to present the 
plan to the Russians. 
 
Finnish Contributions in Afghanistan 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶7. (SBU) U/S Burns thanked Stubb for Finland's contributions 
in Afghanistan.  "Your comments are generous.  I think we 
could do more," quipped Stubb.  Stubb said Finland was 
looking at increasing its troop levels in Afghanistan once it 
downsized Kosovo and Bosnia, but he did not specify a number 
or a timeframe.  Stubb also acknowledged that Finland was 
politically unable to provide the kind of support that Sweden 
did, for example.  Stubb welcomed NATO's engagement in 
Afghanistan and said that the alliance's increasingly global 
approach was good for the NATO debate in Finland. 
 
Iran 
---- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Stubb said Finland was "worried" about Iran, 
considered it a key issue and was fully supportive of the EU3 
position.  U/S Burns agreed there was good reason to worry 
and commented on the reactions of Iran's nearest neighbors, 
particularly Israel.  Burns also noted that China's role 
would be important.  Stubb briefed U/S Burns on the 
detainment in Finland November 30 of two members of the 
Iranian NGO MKO.  (Note:  They had come to Finland to take 
part in preparations for the visit of the organization's 
leader, who had been invited to Finland by the Finnish 
Parliament's human rights group.  Officials held the two at 
Helsinki-Vantaa airport on the basis of an international 
arrest warrant issued by Interpol.  The press later reported 
that the warrant had been issued at the request of Iran. 
Finnish authorities released the men on December 3 but 
advised them not to leave Finland.  End Note.) 
 
Transatlantic Relations 
----------------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) Stubb commented that relations between the U.S. and 
Europe were strong.  He had just come from the NATO Foreign 
Ministers meeting in Brussels,  (Note: Finland is a member of 
Partnership for Peace, not NATO.) where he had had a short 
pull-aside with Secretary Rice and remarked on what he 
perceived to be a very different atmosphere from 2003.  U/S 
Burns agreed, thanked Stubb for his hard work as CiO and 
congratulated Finland on the award of the Nobel Peace Prize 
to former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari.  Stubb noted he 
would be attending the ceremony on December 10 in Oslo and 
that it was a great honor for him and for Finland. 
 
¶10. (U) U/S Burns has cleared this message. 
BARRETT