VZCZCXRO5466
OO RUEHIK
DE RUEHNO #0054 0341705
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 031705Z FEB 10
FM USMISSION USNATO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3839
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 0748
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL PRIORITY 1345
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL PRIORITY 0738
RUEHGP/AMEMBASSY SINGAPORE PRIORITY 0527
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 1057
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON PRIORITY 0149
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHNO/USDELMC BRUSSELS BE PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/USNMR SHAPE BE PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY

UNCLAS USNATO 000054 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OVIP AORC PREL NATO
SUBJECT: ACTION REQUEST: POSSIBLE AUTUMN 2010 NATO 
MINISTERIAL DATES 
 
REF: SG(2010)0062 
 
¶1. (SBU) This is an action request.  Please see para 4. 
 
¶2. (SBU) On February 2, Secretary General Rasmussen 
identified four tentative dates for possible foreign and/or 
defense ministerials this fall to be held in Brussels: 
 
-- Thursday, September 16; 
-- Thursday, September 23; 
-- Thursday, October 7; and 
-- Thursday, October 14. 
 
The Secretary General believes he may need to call meetings 
on one or more of these dates to address issues ahead of the 
NATO Heads of State and Government Summit which will be held 
in November in Lisbon. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The Secretary General has asked for maximum 
flexibility from nations with regard to these dates, arguing 
that he will not have clarity on whether or not meetings will 
need to be held until closer to the date of the Summit.  He 
hopes to have a better sense of the schedule by the beginning 
of September. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Action Request: We ask that Washington let us know 
immediately if any of these dates will absolutely not work 
for Secretaries Clinton and Gates.  Assuming they are 
available, we ask that holds be placed on the dates. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Comment: With the last NATO ministerial before the 
Lisbon Summit scheduled for June, it is almost certain that 
fall ministerials will need to be called in order to resolve 
outstanding issues before the Summit.  Afghanistan, the 
Strategic Concept, Missile Defense and NATO-Russia are just 
some of the issues that ministers may need to grapple with if 
President Obama and his counterparts are to have a successful 
summit.  Similar ministerials were held just prior to recent 
summits in Bucharest (2008) and Strasbourg-Kehl (2009). 
While no final decision has been taken, it is also likely 
that the regularly scheduled December Foreign Ministerial 
will be canceled this year because it would fall too soon 
after the Summit. 
HEFFERN