VZCZCXRO8809
OO RUEHAST RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHLA RUEHMRE RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSR
DE RUEHVEN #0140/01 1661205
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 151205Z JUN 09
FM USMISSION USOSCE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6421
INFO RUCNOSC/ORGANIZATION FOR SECURITY IN EUROPE COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RHMFISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC
RUEASWA/DTRA ALEX WASHINGTON DC
RUESDT/DTRA-OSES DARMSTADT GE
RUEKJCS/JCS WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 USOSCE 000140 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR VCI/CCA, EUR/RPM, EUR/PRA 
JCS FOR J-5 
OSD FOR ISA (PERENYI) 
NSC FOR NILSSON, HAYDEN 
EUCOM FOR J-5 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OSCE PARM PREL KCFE
SUBJECT: OPEN SKIES:  JUNE 15:  RUSSIA LAST HOLDOUT ON JUNE 
2010 DATES FOR SECOND REVIEW CONFERENCE; NORWAY TO 
INTRODUCE NEW AIRCRAFT 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  At the Open Skies Consultative Commission 
(OSCC) on June 15 consensus continued to emerge supporting 
the draft decision on proposed dates for the U.S.-chaired 
Second Review Conference (June 7-9, 2010).  Russia awaits a 
final go-ahead from Moscow, but assured USDel that it fully 
expects to join consensus on the draft decision at the next 
plenary in July.  Norway intends to introduce a new Open 
Skies observation aircraft with digital sensors, depending on 
progress made by the Informal Working Group on Sensors 
regarding decisions on certification procedures.  On the 
margins of the plenary, Turkey said it had ideas for the 
Second Review Conference and suggested an informal planning 
meeting in September.  The next OSCC plenary will be held on 
July 13 under the chairmanship of Bosnia and Herzegovina. 
End Summary. 
 
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Russia Not Yet Ready to Agree to Dates 
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¶2.  (SBU) During the June 15 OSCC plenary (chaired by Bosnia 
and Herzegovina - Davidovic), Sweden (Boda) and Georgia 
(Giorgadze) supported the draft decision which proposes that 
the U.S.-chaired Second Review Conference on the 
Implementation of the Treaty on Open Skies take place in 
Vienna, June 7-9 (OSCC.DD/4/09). 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  Russia (Federyakov), on the margins of the 
plenary, informed USDel (Neighbour) that the draft decision 
had circulated throughout the Russian interagency but still 
needed the blessing of one more agency before Russia could 
join consensus, which it expected to do at the next OSCC 
plenary in July.  He expressed full agreement with USDel on 
the rationale for the dates proposed and the need to adopt 
the decision before the summer recess. 
 
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Norway Intends to Deploy New Aircraft 
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¶4.  (SBU)  Norway (Brandsrud) informed the OSCC of its 
intention to replace Norway's current (Hercules) Open Skies 
observation aircraft with a new unarmed training version of a 
P-3N (Norwegian type) Orion equipped with digital sensors. 
The certification of Norway's new aircraft depends on further 
progress being made in the Informal Working Group on Sensors 
(IWGS), which would go beyond the "OSCC Chairperson's 
Statement on Specifications for Allowed Video Sensors" and 
allow the OSCC to take appropriate decisions on the use of 
digital sensors and certification procedures for aircraft 
that employ them.  Before the plenary began, Norway 
(Mortensen) informed USDel that it would refrain from 
mentioning its suggestion for an international workshop on 
digital target reading and analysis on available digital data 
until it had full U.S. support.  USDel (Wright) said that the 
U.S. chair of the IWGS had received Norway's proposal and had 
begun consultations in Washington. 
 
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Report on Recent Observation Flights 
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¶5.  (SBU) Spain (Anson Soro) announced that a recent 
successful observation flight over Russia and Belarus had 
taken place onboard the Spanish C130 Hercules with 
participants from Spain, France, and Portugal.  The Russian 
Federation (Federyakov) informed the OSCC that since the last 
plenary in May it had carried out four observation missions 
over Croatia, Estonia, Germany, and Latvia, and had 
participated as observer in an additional four missions 
conducted by Benelux, Turkey-U.S., Spain, and UK-Slovenia. 
Turkey (Ercan) announced that it had flown two observer 
missions, the first over Russia and the second over Ukraine. 
All speakers thanked their cooperating partners for 
 
USOSCE 00000140  002 OF 002 
 
 
successful missions. 
 
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Lithuanian Confiscated Film Issue, Closed 
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¶6.  (SBU) Russia (Federyakov), referring to the Lithuanian 
statement in the OSCC plenary on May 18, regretted that 
Russian airport officials had confiscated duplicate film in 
the possession of Lithuanian representatives as a "technical 
error."  Federyakov said the matter was investigated and that 
such an error would "not happen again." 
 
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Summer Departures Begin 
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¶7.  (SBU) Under any other business, Romania (Matei) announced 
the return to Bucharest of Lieutenant Colonel Maria-Cristina 
Nicolai Apetroaie; her successor arrives in July.  The senior 
military advisers of Slovenia (Brigadier Marjan Grabnar) and 
Lithuania (Colonel Darius Kalibatas) also depart Vienna this 
summer. 
 
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Margins of the Plenary 
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¶8.  (SBU) USDel (Wright) learned on the margins of the 
plenary that both Turkey and Latvia had been advised by 
Germany that a revision to the annual quota distribution 
decision (adopted March 23 - OSCC.DD/3/09) was necessary in 
light of Latvia's choice (due to budget shortfalls) not to 
conduct a planned shared mission with Turkey over Bosnia and 
Herzegovina.  Mission recommends Washington consider whether 
it might be necessary to receive clarification from the 
German delegation on its legal/procedural point of view. 
 
¶9.  (SBU)  Turkey (Ercan) informed USDel that it had ideas 
for the Second Review Conference and suggested an informal 
planning meeting after summer recess in September.  One topic 
for the conference might be the accession of Central Asian 
states to the Open Skies Treaty. 
 
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Next Plenary 
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¶10.  (SBU) The Chair (Davidovic) announced that the next OSCC 
plenary would convene on July 13 under the chairmanship of 
Bosnia and Herzegovina. 
Scott