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DE RUEHTH #0734/01 1491352
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O 281352Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY ATHENS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1873
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/CDR USEUCOM ALT SHAPE BE PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0328
RHMFISS/CDRUSANATO SHAPE BE PRIORITY C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ATHENS 000734 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/22/2018 
TAGS:              
SUBJECT: TOUR D'HORIZON WITH FM BAKOYANNIS 
 
REF: A. ATHENS 651 
 
      B. ATHENS 678 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Daniel V. Speckhard for 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
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SUMMARY 
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 1.  (C) In a May 23 meeting with Ambassador Speckhard, FM 
Bakoyannis said she and PM Karamanlis had told Macedonian 
President Crvenkovski that Greece seeks to conclude the name 
negotiations quickly.  Macedonia must choose an adjective for 
"Macedonia" that makes clear the country is part of a broader 
Macedonia, and the adjective must precede "Macedonia."  The 
new name must also be used on all documents, passports, 
products, etc.  She said Greece does not insist on a change 
in the constitutional name, but she did not see how the Greek 
view of the scope of application could be achieved without 
the new name being reflected in the constitution.  The 
Ambassador pressed for rapid conclusion to the issue and for 
maximum flexibility from the Greeks. 
 
 2.  (C) Bakoyannis suggested a new UNSCR is required to 
obtain "EU unity" on Kosovo, adding what is needed is a 
"reaffirmation of 1244."  She had recently met SRS President 
Dacic in Athens and was pessimistic he would form a coalition 
with Tadic.  The Ambassador raised the need for further 
sanctions in Iran; she agreed the international community 
needed to be "firm" with Iran, but did not appear fully 
briefed on the issue.  She expressed grave disappointment 
with the NATO decision not to support the "NOBLE ARCHER" 
Aegean exercise, blaming the United States.  The GOG is 
downplaying the issue for now, but will revisit it with the 
U.S. in the future.  She expressed gave concern with the AKP 
case in Turkey, noting that it has complicated Greece's 
ability to make progress with Turkey.  She noted that 
Greece's last offer on the Visa Waiver MOU was as far as 
Greece could go, and pledged to work to conclude the MOU 
quickly.  She also laid out her priorities for the upcoming 
"Women in the Middle East" forum hosted by Greece.  End 
Summary. 
 
-------------- 
Macedonia Name 
-------------- 
 
 3.  (C) Bakoyannis provided readout of her and PM Karamanlis' 
conversations with Macedonian President Crvenkovski on the 
margins of the May 21 SEECP Summit in Bulgaria: 
 
-- Name:  They told Crvenkovski that Greece would not impose 
a name; he could pick the adjective ) "Gorno," "Upper," 
"North," etc., as long as the adjective made clear that the 
country in question is only a part of a broader "Macedonia," 
and the adjective precedes the noun.  They told him that 
"Republic of Macedonia Skopje" will not work. 
 
-- Referendum:  Bakoyannis said they had not threatened or 
insisted that Greece would require a referendum if the 
Macedonians held one.  They did tell Crvenkovski it was a bad 
move that would lead the Greek opposition to insist there 
should be a referendum on the enlargement decision, not the 
name.  The Ambassador responded that Greece's approval would 
be the parliamentary ratification.  Bakoyannis responded that 
it would be difficult to explain to the public that the 
Macedonians could let the public decide, while resisting 
similar arguments in Greece or elsewhere in Europe.  She 
added she was worried about the pressure for referendums on 
enlargement in the EU context, and the impact of the furof referendums on TurkeQ-- Scope of Application:  They told Crvenkovski the new name 
needs to be a name used on documents, passports, products, 
etc.  The Ambassador pushed back, noting that requiring a 
change in the Macedonian Constitution would be a bridge too 
far.  She responded that Greece does not insist on a 
constitutional change, but she added she did not see how it 
would be possible to have a name used for all international 
usage, including commercial, and not have it reflected in the 
Constitution. 
 
-- Timing:  They told Crvenkovski that they are serious in 
pressing ahead. At the same time, given the time it would 
take to form a government in Skopje after the Parliamentary 
elections, they were skeptical that there would be sufficient 
 
ATHENS 00000734  002 OF 003 
 
 
time to arrive at a solution before July 9th.  The Ambassador 
urged her to press ahead. 
 
-- PM Gruevski:  Bakoyannis more generally noted that the GOG 
is worried about Gruevski; she said he is using old style 
Balkans rhetoric internally that is divisive (Macedonians 
versus Albanians), adding that the Bulgarians have similar 
concerns. 
 
 4.  (C) Throughout the conversation, the Ambassador 
encouraged FM Bakoyannis to press ahead and be flexible in 
the negotiations.  The timing is right to seize the 
opportunity after the elections to get this issue behind us. 
 
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Kosovo 
------ 
 
 5.  (C) Bakoyannis affirmed that she had met with Kosovo FM 
Hyseni in Bulgaria.  She alluded to "problems in the EU," and 
added that she believes a UN resolution is needed.  A new 
UNSCR does not need to be detailed; a simple reaffirmation 
that 1244 is still the basis would be sufficient, and it 
would not need to address the current situation. 
 
 6.  (C) The Ambassador pushed back that this seemed like it 
would create more problems than it would solve, and asked if 
it was not likely the Russians would veto.  Bakoyannis 
responded that it depends on Serbian developments; Tadic 
needs to win the government formation battle.  She thought 
Tadic could support a resolution limited to a reaffirmation 
that 1244 was still germane.  The resolution could mean 
different things to different people.  If Serbia did not have 
problems with the resolution, it could be possible to get 
Russians on board. 
 
 7.  (C) The Ambassador expressed great skepticism.  She 
responded that she knew this would not be easy, but unity in 
EU is desperately needed; she thought a new UN resolution was 
the only way to obtain this.  Bakoyannis would not give any 
indication of Greece's timing on recognition, with the clear 
implication that it would depend on further developments 
within the EU. 
 
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Visit of Serbian Socialist Party Leader 
--------------------------------------- 
 
 8.  (C) Bakoyannis said she had met with SRS President Dacic 
earlier on May 23 when he visited Athens at the invitation of 
leading opposition party PASOK President and Socialist 
International President George Papandreou.   Bakoyannis said 
she does not think that the SRS will form a government with 
Tadic; their (unspecified) offer is too good from the 
nationalists.  She encouraged Dacic to think of his party's 
future.  In the next ten years the SRS' old constituency will 
be dying off; they need to reach younger people and will need 
a European focus to be able to do that.  Bakoyannis was not 
optimistic that Dacic had been convinced. 
 
---- 
Iran 
---- 
 
 9.  (C) The Ambassador pressed Bakoyannis on the need to 
support a strengthening of sanctions against Iran.  She was 
interested in rumors that the Ayatollahs were considering 
pushing out Ahmedinijad.  She agreed the international 
community needed to be firm.  She said she thought Greece 
could support a strengthening of economic sanctions, as long 
as such sanctions did not include oil.  (Comment:  Bakoyannis 
did not seem well briefed on this issue, and given clear 
indications - Reftel A - from the Greek MFA of skepticism 
about further sanctions, we caution against putting too much 
stock in Bakoyannis' initial reaction on this point.  End 
Comment). 
 
---------------------------- 
Aegean Exercise Cancellation 
---------------------------- 
 
 10.  (C) Bakoyannis was very upset by NATO's decision not to 
support "NOBLE ARCHER" - Greece's planned exercise in the 
Aegean (Ref B).  She said that Greece had worked for a long 
time to prepare this exercise, had followed the NATO 
procedures and rules, and SACEUR had supported it.  Everyone 
 
ATHENS 00000734  003 OF 003 
 
 
always knew the Turks would object to the planned overflight 
of the island Agios Efstratios, and Turkish objections should 
not have come as a surprise to anyone. 
 
 11.  (C) Bakoyannis said Greece believes the U.S. was 
responsible for pulling the plug on the exercise.  She said 
that now is not the time to tackle this issue, and the GOG 
has tried to show restraint in its response, but we will need 
to pick this issue up again, as it is "very important" to 
Greece. 
 
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Turkey 
------ 
 
 12.  (C) Bakoyannis said the GOG is very concerned with the 
internal situation in Turkey.  The Greeks do not understand 
how it is possible potentially to outlaw the political party 
that has the support of the majority of the population or to 
blacklist over 70 of that party's most prominent politicians. 
 She said Greece is very worried about the potential for 
future instability in Turkey.  She added that this situation 
also means nothing substantial can be achieved on bilateral 
and regional issues until the question of the AKP's status is 
resolved. 
 
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Visa Waiver 
----------- 
 
 13.  (C) The Ambassador urged that the GOG be very flexible, 
responsive and restrained in the HSPD-6 negotiations that 
would take place May 28.  She said that the GOG has worked 
very hard to resolve all the issues to be included in VWP. 
The last offer from Greece on the general VWP MOU is "the 
best we can do."  She concluded that Greece will support 
efforts to conclude rapidly the MOU, but she asked that we 
recognize that Greece cannot get "too far out from the EU," 
adding Greece is not a "New Europe" country. 
 
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Conference on Women in the Middle East 
-------------------------------------- 
 
 14.  (C) Bakoyannis briefly raised the "Women in the Middle 
East" Forum she will host as part of the Women Leader's 
Working Group.  She said she wants results, and not just 
talk.  There she had tightened the focus of the forum on 
entrepreneurship ) which gives women income, a sense of 
security, and empowerment. 
SPECKHARD