VZCZCXRO0317
OO RUEHAG RUEHBC RUEHDBU RUEHDE RUEHDIR RUEHFL RUEHKUK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHNP RUEHPW RUEHROV
DE RUEHTH #0497/01 0960941
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
O 060942Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY ATHENS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0033
INFO AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
IRAN COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RHMFISS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0005
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 0006
RUEHTH/AMEMBASSY ATHENS

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 ATHENS 000497 
 
SIPDIS 
AMEMBASSY ANKARA PASS TO AMCONSUL ADANA 
AMEMBASSY ASTANA PASS TO USOFFICE ALMATY 
AMEMBASSY BERLIN PASS TO AMCONSUL DUSSELDORF 
AMEMBASSY BERLIN PASS TO AMCONSUL LEIPZIG 
AMEMBASSY BELGRADE PASS TO AMEMBASSY PODGORICA 
AMEMBASSY HELSINKI PASS TO AMCONSUL ST PETERSBURG 
AMEMBASSY ATHENS PASS TO AMCONSUL THESSALONIKI 
AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK 
AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL YEKATERINBURG 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/04/06 
TAGS: PGOV PREL IR AF MOPS GR
SUBJECT: MFA POSITIVE ON AFGHANISTAN, VISA WAIVER NEGOTIATIONS, POTUS 
ENGAGEMENT WITH IRAN 
 
REF: A) SECSTATE 31102, B) ATHENS 471, C) 2008 ATHENS 833, D) 
SECSTATE 25892, E) GOODMAN E-MAIL 04/01/2009 ON GTMO MATRIX 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Daniel Speckhard, Ambassador, State, AmEmbassy Athens; 
REASON: 1.4(B), (D) 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Ambassador discussed ref A points on Afghanistan 
and Pakistan with head of the Foreign Minister's Diplomatic 
Cabinet, Ambassador Kostas Chalastanis, noting the issue was not 
only a top priority for the U.S. but also a critical one for 
Greece, which had recently seen Afghani migrants to Greece reaching 
25,000 per year.  Chalastanis agreed with this assessment and said 
Greece was preparing a set of plus-ups for Afghanistan (ref B). 
Chalastanis thought the U.S. idea of a Greek negotiating team going 
to Washington to discuss outstanding Visa Waiver issues was a good 
idea and said FM Bakoyannis supported it.  Greece was positive and 
supportive on President Obama's recent offer of engagement with 
Iran (ref D).  Greece was willing to re-engage on a PSI 
shipboarding agreement, but it was "less favorable" than other EU 
member-states on forming a common position on GTMO detainees, which 
should be dealt with on an "individual" basis.  END SUMMARY. 
 
 
 
A NEW STRATEGIC RELATIONSHIP 
 
---------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶2. (C) Ambassador began with an overview of U.S.-Greece relations 
going into the NATO and U.S.-EU summits taking place April 3-4 and 
April 5.  He noted that the advent of the new administration in 
Washington provided a strategic opportunity to boost bilateral 
relations.  It was time to move beyond the issues of Turkey, 
Cyprus, and the Macedonia name issue, which were important but had 
limited our relations in the past, to a new relationship based on a 
broader strategic view of our common interests and concerns. 
 
 
 
¶3. (C) In this regard, Afghanistan - which Ambassador noted was at 
the top of President Obama's priorities -- was a prime example of 
our broader common interests.  Afghanistan was not only about 
ending the terrorist threat to the U.S. and Europe but also about 
helping Greece deal with the huge influx of Afghani migrants, which 
recently have numbered 25,000 per year.  Chalastanis said this was 
Greece's assessment as well, and he went on to speak briefly about 
the plus-ups Greece intended to make to its Afghanistan military 
and civilian assistance (ref B). 
 
 
 
VISA WAIVER 
 
----------- 
 
 
 
¶4. (C) Ambassador noted the strong U.S. desire to complete Greece's 
entry into the Visa Waiver Program and our desire to get it done as 
soon as possible, perhaps by June.  Ambassador suggested that a 
Greek team be empowered to travel to Washington to negotiate. 
Chalastanis said that was a good proposal and that FM Bakoyannis 
supported sending a team as soon as possible.  (NOTE: Embassy is in 
close touch with the MFA lead on VWP, Ioannis Raptakis, and will 
press him to assemble a negotiating team very soon.  END NOTE.) 
 
 
 
¶5. (C) On the VWP MOU, which has been finalized except for the 
section on repatriation, Ambassador noted that Greek insistence 
that it not be required to accept for repatriation former nationals 
who renounced their citizenship more than 15 years ago was based on 
a faulty analogy with the Czech Republic.  While we understood the 
 
ATHENS 00000497  002 OF 002 
 
 
Czech Republic's MOU did include a 15-year limit, that was 
justified because the Czech Republic only came into existence as a 
distinct entity in the early 1990s; Greece had no such rationale 
for a 15-year limit on repatriation.  Chalastanis was unaware of 
this disagreement but promised to look into it. 
 
 
 
IRAN 
 
---- 
 
 
 
¶6. (S) Per ref D, Ambassador asked about GOG impressions of the 
President's recent offer of engagement to Iran.  Chlastanis said 
Greece was generally positive on the idea and noted signals from 
the Iranians that they wished to have direct contact with the U.S. 
He said the Iranians did not want intermediaries (which Greece has 
offered to us and, we presume, to the Iranians to be, ref C). 
Chalastanis said Greece was hopeful but cautious.  He also said he 
had no specifics on Greek shipowners' dealings with the Iranians. 
 
 
 
PSI SHIPBOARDING AGREEMENT 
 
-------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶7. (C) Ambassador used mention of the shipowners to segue into 
signaling our desire to re-engage on the PSI shipboarding 
agreement.  Chalastanis said he understood the shipowners had a 
problem with the liability provisions of the agreement, though the 
MFA was as puzzled as the U.S. as to why they were hung up on this. 
He promised to look into restarting negotiations. 
 
 
 
GTMO DETAINEES 
 
-------------- 
 
 
 
¶8. (C) In response to Ambassador's question about Greece's position 
on the EU common position (ref E), Chalastanis confirmed that 
Greece was less favorable than others, though it was willing to 
look at the details of cases from the U.S. and hoped the U.S. would 
supply a "catalog" of the detainees for EU inspection.  Such cases 
would then need to be looked at separately, not en masse. 
Nevertheless, Chalastanis said the "good will" was there on the 
issue. 
SPECKHARD