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DE RUEHTH #0141/01 0561455
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R 251432Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY ATHENS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1629
INFO EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RHEFHLC/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ATHENS 000141 
 
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E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/02/25 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER GR
SUBJECT: Greek Intelligence Dir. Bikas on Proposed Reorganization 
 
REF: Athens045; Athens059; Athens057; 09Athens1643 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Daniel V. SPeckhard, Ambassador, State, EXEC; REASON: 
1.4(B), (C), (D) 
 
¶1.    (C/NF) SUMMARY:  During a one-hour meeting on February 8, 
EYP Director General  Bikas told Ambassador Speckhard that he 
accepted the ambassador's proposal for regular dialogue between the 
embassy and the leadership of EYP and the HNP on counterterrorism. 
Bikas commented briefly on the challenges that he faces in 
transforming EYP to make it more relevant and productive, 
particularly in how it allocates resources to analysis and 
technical collection.    END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.   (C/NF)  On February 8, 2010, the ambassador met for an hour 
with the director general of the Greek National Intelligence 
Service (EUP), Ambassador Konstantinos Bikas, in  the latter's 
office at the headquarters of the Ministry of Citizen Protection 
(MCP).  This was the final in a series of four meetings by the 
ambassador to hear from senior Greek officials about the ongoing 
reorganization of Greece's security, intelligence, and law 
enforcement agencies under the umbrella of the MCP, which was 
formed in October 2009. The ambassador's meeting with the 
commandant of the Hellenic Coast Guard (HCG) on January 20 was 
reported in Ref A.  His meeting with Hellenic National Police (HNP) 
chief Eleftherios Oikonomou on January 21 was reported in Ref B. 
His meeting on January 22 with Minister of Citizen Protection 
Michalis Chrysochoidis was reported in Ref C.  This was not the 
ambassador's first meeting with Bikas, who had attended the 
ambassador's introductory call on Chrysochoidis on  November 12, 
2009 (Ref D).  However, this was his first private extended 
conversation with Bikas, who was appointed in October 2009.  The 
ambassador was accompanied by the RAS chief, while Bikas was 
unaccompanied. 
 
¶3.  (C/NF)  Bikas greeted the ambassador warmly and ushered him 
into his office.  After an exchange of pleasantries, ambassador 
queried Bikas on  how he was faring in reorganizing EYP, adding 
that on January 22 he had seen Chrysochoidis, who had been harshly 
critical of EYP and had announced that it would be thoroughly 
restructured.  The ambassador pointed out that Chrysochoidis had 
urged him to meet with Bikas to learn of the plans for himself. 
 
¶4.  (C/NF)  Bikas acknowledged that Chrysochoidis had briefed him 
on his meeting with the ambassador.  He said that Chrysochoidis 
accepted the ambassador's proposal for a local counterterrorist 
working group involving EYP, HNP, and the embassy.  He promised to 
speak with Police Chief Oikonomou in the near future and then to 
contact the embassy to arrange a meeting for them with the RAS 
chief and the Legatt.  Bikas commented that he enjoyed very good 
chemistry with Oikonomou.  They recently made trips to Rome and 
Paris together as part of a determined effort to foster HNP-EYP 
interagency cooperation. 
 
¶5.  (C/NF)  Bikas said that his main goal was to increase EYP's 
productivity and relevance, but that this was a tall order in a 
heavily unionized agency, especially one in which most employees 
belonged to PASOK.  He had identified units that should be 
abolished however, it was proving difficult to find positions 
elsewhere in the government for the staff.   He was critical of the 
large number of military officers serving in EYP for tours of five 
years and more.  It was understandable that it was attractive for 
them to work in EYP, since their pay was much higher and their 
benefits greater while on detail.  However, they often did not 
bring any needed intelligence skills.  Bikas said that he wanted to 
bring military officers to EYP selectively for three-year tours. 
He also criticized EYP's analytical department, saying that years 
ago EYP had made the decision to adopt the model of CIA and the 
British SIS in terms of analytical resources.  While that model 
might be appropriate  for intelligence services working for 
policymakers with global concerns, it was inappropriate for senior 
Greek decision makers, whose diplomatic and security questions 
focused on a handful of key regional issues.  As a result, EYP 
needed to draw back its thinly spread analytical resources, which 
were not producing analysis of any use to already well- informed 
 
ATHENS 00000141  002 OF 002 
 
 
policymakers, and concentrate them on key areas in which they could 
bring something new in the way of information and perspectives. 
BIkas added that he also was carefully reviewing all of EYP's 
technical collection programs and capabilities. 
 
¶4.  (C/NF)  The ambassador asked if Bikas was preparing a draft law 
on reorganizing EYP, as Chrysochoidis had indicated.  Bikas said 
that draft legislation was not yet in the works, since he was still 
studying his agency.  He remarked that on February 9 he and 
Chrysochoidis were scheduled to speak at the parliament on EYP, 
with special focus on the Vodafone scandal.  (Comment: This was a 
reference to a phone-tapping scandal that embroiled EYP and the 
former Ministry o f Public Order in the aftermath of the 2004 
Summer Olympic Games.)  To prepare, he was studying statistics on 
EYP's size, budget, technical resources, etc.  In other words, he 
was still learning about EYP and so was not ready yet to advocate 
publicly formal changes. 
 
¶5.  (C/NF)  Bikas briefly sketched out EYP's efforts against 
terrorism.  On the one hand, it was trying to become the lead 
agency in Greece for driving operations against domestic terrorism, 
both from the right and from the left.  On the other hand, it was 
continuing to deploy resources against the growing threat of 
transnational terrorists using Greece as a base or a transit point. 
Bikas said that here too EYP was in the middle of programmatic 
restructuring to increase interagency cooperation and to eliminate 
previous ineffective approaches.  He added that one of the reasons 
that he and Oikonomou had visited France and Italy was to learn how 
the internal security services were dealing with both problems. 
Bikas highlighted the way in which the French had developed both 
operational and intellectual approaches to domestic unrest, for 
example using temporary barriers to channel demonstrators away from 
potential flashpoints, thus allowing them to have their public say 
but also keeping the lid of outbreaks of violence.  Bikas touched 
briefly on the need for reforms in Greece's anti-terrorist laws 
,noting instances in which courts had thwarted counterterrorist 
efforts by freeing detained suspects (e.g., accepting defense 
argument that fingerprints on movable items in anarchists' 
safehouses were not admissible as evidence of participation in the 
group's activities). 
 
¶6. (C/NF)  The meeting ended with the ambassador's expression of 
the U.S. side's readiness to assist EYP and the HNP in their 
counterterrorist efforts and of his appreciation that both Bikas 
and Oikonomou had accepted his proposal for increased 
communications between the embassy and the leadership of the MCP's 
key anti-crime and counterterrorist agencies. 
 
¶7. (C/NF)  COMMENT:  While the new Director General came off as 
smooth, intellectual and engaging, unlike  the Minister of Citizen 
Protection he did not project a sense of urgency or a "strong 
command" approach to his mission.  Although the GoG has instituted 
some new initiatives, such as the new emphasis on counterterrorism, 
the sense we had was that those were under the direction of the new 
Minister, and the Director General was still learning the ropes in 
his relatively quiet office. 
SPECKHARD