US embassy cable - 04HELSINKI1472

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 05 HELSINKI 001472 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR A/S BETH JONES, EUR/NB, AND EUR/ERA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/17/2014 
TAGS: CASC, EU, PGOV, PHUM, PREL, SMIG, TU, FI 
SUBJECT: ASSISTANT SECRETARY BETH JONES' MEETING WITH 
FINLAND'S FOREIGN MINISTER ERKKI TUOMIOJA 
 
REF: NONE 
 
Classified By: POLOFF DAVID ALLEN SCHLAEFER FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D) 
 
Summary 
-------- 
 
1. (C) During her November 8 meeting in Helsinki with Finnish 
Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, Assistant Secretary Jones 
said that the Administration was already talking about 
reinvigorating the transatlantic relationship, and said that 
one of the purposes of her trip was to ask Finland's views 
about this.  FM Tuomioja replied that U.S. "re-engagement" in 
the Broader Middle East and North Africa Initiative (BMENA) 
and Middle East Peace Process (MEPP) was at the top of 
Brussel's priority list, and that the current situation with 
Arafat afforded both risks and opportunities to push the 
peace process forward.  A/S Jones expressed concern about the 
ongoing Rogers child-custody case, and FM Tuomioja said that 
he was confident the Finnish courts would resolve the 
situation.  Asked for his views about how the U.S. and EU 
could positively engage Russia, FM Tuomioja opined that 
Moscow did not understand how the EU works and was engaged in 
futile attempts to split EU countries over certain issues. 
A/S Jones and FM Tuomioja agreed that the U.S. and EU should 
not shy away from human rights concerns in Chechnya and 
acknowledged signs that the Russians again were willing to 
discuss frozen conflicts such as the Transnistria and South 
Ossetia disputes.  FM Tuomioja said that the EU's statements 
on Ukraine's election had possibly been too harsh; FM 
Tuomioja and A/S Jones agreed on the importance of not giving 
up on democratization in Ukraine. 
 
2. (C) A/S Jones thanked the Foreign Minister for Finland's 
contributions to coalition efforts inside Afghanistan and 
Iraq.  After the successful elections in Afghanistan, the 
next big challenge was eradication of opium poppy 
cultivation.  FM Tuomioja agreed, remarking that U.S. and EU 
agricultural policies do not facilitate viable alternatives 
to poppy cultivation for poor farmers.  FM Tuomioja also 
advocated getting tough with Afghan Government elements 
involved in narcotics trafficking.  A/S Jones expressed U.S. 
solidarity with Finland's support for Turkish EU accession, 
prompting the Foreign Minister to opine that while an early 
date for accession talks was desirable, simply establishing a 
concrete date was the most important step.  At the request of 
Finland's Under Secretary for Political Affairs, A/S Jones 
offered to put the Finnish officials in touch with U.S. 
diplomats in Russia who are handling the State Department's 
anti-trafficking in persons efforts there.  Finally, noting 
that Arctic climate change threatened the entire Arctic 
region, the Foreign Minister hoped the upcoming Arctic 
Council meeting in Reykjavik would spur efforts to ameliorate 
this.  A/S Jones replied that the U.S. was also looking 
forward to the meeting and seeing the Council's new report. 
End Summary. 
 
Second Term Priorities 
---------------------- 
 
3. (C) A/S Jones stated that, with the election behind us, 
Secretary Powell was actively preparing for several major 
 
SIPDIS 
meetings, including the OSCE ministerial, and NATO and USEU 
summits.  The Administration wanted to reinvigorate the 
transatlantic relationship.  She called the FM's attention to 
the President's reference to this in his November 3 press 
conference.  FM Tuomioja said no one should forget that 
transatlantic cooperation was already working and delivering 
results in most areas, and that where differences remained, 
there were effective ways of dealing with them.  The Foreign 
Minister said that he hoped Secretary Powell would indeed 
remain in office, and that he looked forward to seeing him 
again at the NATO meeting, and perhaps in April in New York 
at the next meeting of the Helsinki Process. 
 
4. (C) A/S Jones said one of the purposes of her visit was to 
ask for his ideas on ways that transatlantic relations could 
be strengthened during the President's second term.  The 
Foreign Minister replied that the Broader-Middle East and 
MEPP was the "number one item" among EU members, who expected 
the U.S. to "re-engage" and jumpstart the process.  He said 
that while Arafat's death could lead to instability, it also 
afforded a window of opportunity should the U.S. choose to 
seize it.  A/S Jones said that although she could not speak 
for the White House, she knew the State Department was indeed 
considering how best to use the Arafat situation to promote a 
peaceful solution in the Middle East. 
Rogers Case 
----------- 
 
5. (C) A/S Jones said that there was concern in Washington 
over the ongoing Rogers case, in which a Finnish mother has 
refused to obey U.S. and Finnish court orders requiring her 
to surrender her two dual-national children to their U.S. 
citizen father, and expressed hope that it would soon be 
resolved.  She noted that Finland needs to obey the letter of 
the law.  Tuomioja replied that it was a "messy" case and not 
primarily the responsibility of his ministry, although he 
acknowledged that Finland was bound by international treaty. 
He said that he had faith in Finland's legal system and that 
he believed the case would be cleared up soon.  Jones 
underscored the importance of complying with the Hague 
Convention. 
 
Russia 
------ 
 
6. (C) A/S Jones asked FM Tuomioja for Finland's perspective 
on how the U.S. and EU should approach Russia to bring about 
positive engagement.  FM Tuomioja said that he believed 
Russia had unrealistic or ignorant expectations about how to 
approach the EU.  The Foreign Minister said that Moscow 
wanted Finland to be a bridge between Russia and the EU, not 
understanding that Finland was itself an integral part of the 
EU.  Russia did not understand how the EU worked or was 
evolving; Moscow believed it could selectively choose what 
issues it wished to address bilaterally with EU nations in 
order to drive wedges among EU members.  Such a strategy was 
doomed to fail.  Some EU countries had been more 
"forthcoming" with Russia on issues like visa policy, which 
had probably weakened the EU's position; hence the need for 
the EU to follow common policy where it existed.  FM Tuomioja 
opined that the postponement of an EU-Russia summit 
originally planned for November 11 was due to Moscow's 
inability to limit the agenda to such "wedge issues."  A/S 
Jones agreed that it is good for the Russians to understand 
there is a limit to how far they can push the EU. 
 
Chechnya 
-------- 
 
7. (C) The Foreign Minister said that the EU and U.S. should 
not shy away from issues such as human rights in Russia, 
specifically the situation in Chechnya.  Finland fully 
supported Russia's need to aggressively combat terrorism, but 
that did not legitimate humans rights abuses.  A/S Jones 
agreed, noting that the fight against terrorism did not 
justify backsliding on democracy.  FM Tuomioja cited the need 
for Russia to find a "legitimate partner" with whom they can 
reach a political solution in Chechnya.  A/S Jones said that 
Russia wanted the U.S. to label all Chechens as terrorists, 
obviating the need for political talks.  FM Tuomioja 
mentioned a recent flap over a Chechen website on a Finnish 
server that was accused of inciting terrorism in the 
Caucasus, advising that Finland had taken up the issue of its 
own accord, not because of any Russia request or pressure; 
Secretary Jones said that Russia had approached the U.S. 
 
SIPDIS 
about shutting down a similar website located in Texas. 
 
Ukraine/Belarus/Frozen Conflicts 
-------------------------------- 
 
8. (C) FM Tuomioja and A/S Jones agreed on the importance of 
not giving up on democratization in Ukraine.  A/S Jones said 
that, even though real concerns existed, the Ukrainians 
needed to hear the message that opportunities existed for 
participation in transatlantic institutions, including 
eventual EU membership, if progress continued.  She said that 
Ukraine might be ready for WTO membership within a year, a 
huge step toward a better future.  FM Tuomioja said that 
while the EU could not say "yes" to Ukraine now, it would be 
a mistake to say "never."  There were interim stages of 
integration that could be explored.  He said that the EU's 
statement on the recent election could possibly have been 
"too tough," as the elections had gone better than he 
expected.  Jones said that like the EU, the U.S. believes 
that no matter what the outcome of the elections, the U.S. 
cannot turn its back on Ukraine. 
 
9. (C) The Foreign Minister asked A/S Jones semi-rhetorically 
if an independent Belarus had a future, arguing that Belarus 
was a paradox as reintegration with Russia would actually 
improve the region's human rights.  A/S Jones replied that 
there was scant enthusiasm in Moscow for such a solution. 
A/S Jones noted that Russia was at least willing to schedule 
discussions on frozen conflicts such as Transnistria and 
South Ossetia again. 
Caucasus/Central Asia 
--------------------- 
 
10. (C) A/S Jones asked FM Tuomioja about the situation in 
Central Asia.  FM Tuomioja replied that he had visited only 
Kyrgyzstan, the only place in the world where a Russian and 
American military base co-existed.  He said that Finland had 
no specific advice on Central Asia other than the EU could 
play a useful role in the region.  A/S Jones mentioned that 
the region had institutional associations with Europe via 
NATO's Partnerhsip for Peace (PfP) and other similar 
arrangements.  The PfP has been good for Central Asia, not 
least for improvements in the way the governments treat their 
soldiers.  FM Tuomioja mentioned that he planned to visit 
Kazakhstan in January.  A/S Jones opined that the biggest 
challenge to the region will be its upcoming political 
transitions and the need for Central Asian polities to see 
that democratic transitions can work. 
 
11. (C) FM Tuomioja noted he had recently visited Armenia and 
Azerbaijan, where there seemed to be a new willingness on 
both sides to show some flexibility.  Here again, Russia is 
the key.  A/S Jones said this seemed to be an area where the 
Russians are willing to engage in a constructive way, but the 
parties remain so volatile that it is hard to make any 
progress.  A/S Jones and FM Tuomioja agreed that neither the 
Armenian nor Azerbaijani Governments had done a good job of 
preparing their publics for an eventual settlement, despite 
what progress might have been made in private bilateral 
discussions. 
 
Climate Change 
-------------- 
 
12. (U) The Foreign Minister said that a meeting of the 
Arctic Council in Reykjavik would consider a new report on 
climate change in the Arctic region.  He said that it was 
undeniable that such changed was taking place, which could 
have devastating effects for the region's future.  Tuomioja 
said that he did not expect the U.S. to change its position 
on the Kyoto Protocol, but hoped it would address important 
environmental issues, and perhaps engage in negotiating a 
"Kyoto Two."  A/S Jones said that the Administration was 
definitely interested in looking at the facts and the science 
of the issue.  FM Tuomioja stressed the importance of the 
Arctic Council in bringing together representatives of the 
Arctic's indigenous peoples (sic) with the regions' 
governments.  Such meetings of regional fora are all to the 
good, he said -- an example being the eight-plus-one 
consultations under e-PINE.  Political Director Lyra seconded 
this assessment. 
 
Trafficking-in-Persons 
---------------------- 
 
13. (SBU) A/S Jones asked the Foreign Minister about 
Finland's recent anti-TIP activity, specifically in the areas 
of victim assistance and prosecution.  FM Tuomioja said that 
Finland had recently adopted new anti-TIP legislation and was 
confident its implementation would bring improvements in all 
areas.  He cited the recent break-up of a Russian-organized 
prostitution ring in Helsinki, hoping that Finland's progress 
would be "reflected in future evaluations."  Under Secretary 
of State for Political Affairs Jaakko Laajava said that 
Finland's greatest obstacle in combating trafficking was 
internal conditions inside Russia.  A/S Jones replied that 
the U.S. was working aggressively with NGOs inside Russia to 
go after trafficking rings, ameliorate the conditions that 
led to trafficking, and educate potential victims about the 
dangers involved.  Laajava asked A/S Jones for information 
about the partners the U.S. was working with inside Russia, 
and she promised to ask U.S. diplomats to put him in touch 
with the appropriate people in Moscow and St. Petersburg.  FM 
Tuomioja added that Finland enjoyed an increasing measure of 
trilateral cooperation with Russia and Estonia on the TIP 
issue. 
 
14. (C) FM Tuomioja lamented that the Russians are moving 
border guards from their side of the Russian-Finnish border 
to southern regions, which increases the burden on Finnish 
border guards.  A/S Jones recalled Finland's very good 
training programs for Central Asian border authorities, and 
asked whether that is continuing.  U/S Laajava said only that 
"it will be many years before our experience can produce 
added value" in the "totally different environment" of 
Central Asia. 
 
Afghanistan/Iraq 
---------------- 
 
15. (SBU) A/S Jones thanked the Foreign Minister for 
Finland's contributions to the efforts inside Iraq and 
Afghanistan.  Election in Afghanistan had been far better 
than we had dared hope.  One of the biggest challenges now 
was to eradicate opium poppy cultivation to stop the drug 
flow out of the country; it was necessary to find economic 
alternatives for poppy farmers so that they could survive 
without resorting to poppy cultivation.  FM Tuomioja agreed 
that the elections had been successful, and added that it 
would be good if the Iraqi elections were also as successful, 
although that seemed more difficult.  He said that now that 
Afghanistan had a democratically-elected government, the 
international community had to be tougher on government 
elements involved in narcotics trafficking.  He agreed that 
finding economic alternatives for small farmers was a general 
problem everywhere that narcotics were produced, and argued 
that U.S. and EU agricultural subsidies and protective 
barriers exacerbated the problem. 
 
16. (C) A/S Jones said that in Iraq our focus is on helping 
to build a legitimate police and military, along with 
reconstruction generally.  She thanked the Foreign Minister 
for Finland's readiness to contribute a million euros to a UN 
protection fund in Iraq.  Discussions were underway in NATO 
about how best to proceed with the training of Iraqi military 
forces.  (Note: At a press availability that followed the 
meeting, the Assistant Secretary also thanked Finland 
publicly for Finland's contributions to reconstruction and 
stability in Afghanistan and Iraq.) 
 
Iran 
---- 
 
17. (C) FM Tuomioja said that he was hopeful the Iranian 
response to the EU "nuclear" package might be positive, and 
that he believed that there were some signs this might be the 
case.  If not, the international community faced a very 
serious problem. 
 
Turkey/Cypress 
-------------- 
 
18. (C) A/S Jones said that the U.S. was grateful for 
Finland's position on eventual Turkish accession and would do 
what it could to keep the Turks moving down the path of 
necessary reform.  The U.S. had done its best, working behind 
the scenes, and hoped the EU had noticed.  The Foreign 
Minister replied that this was appreciated, but wryly asked 
that the U.S. not be "too helpful" and interject itself in 
such a way that opponents of Turkish accession could use U.S. 
support for Turkey as a straw man.  FM Tuomioja said that the 
present government of Turkey had made more progress toward 
substantive reform in two years than the previous government 
had made in twelve.  Finland hoped the EU Commission in 
December would set a concrete date for the beginning of 
accession talks.  FM Tuomioja opined that whether the date 
was earlier or later was unimportant, but that the 
establishment of a concrete timetable was the primary 
concern.  Political Director Lyra said that the latter half 
of 2005 was most often mentioned in Brussels as the likely 
timeframe.  Both FM Tuomioja and A/S Jones agreed that it was 
necessary to keep up the pressure on Turkey as regards 
Cyprus, and that confidence-building measures such as the 
withdrawal of some Turkish troops from the north would be 
positive.  They also agreed on the difficulty of working with 
Cypriot President Popadopoulos. 
 
19. (C) FM Tuomioja said that during his visit to Yerevan, 
the Armenians had asked for help in getting the Turks to open 
the border; some Turkish officials have privately sympathized 
with the Armenian goal, "but the Turks have pushed themselves 
into a corner."  A/S Jones replied that the USG is working 
hard on this; train transport is the first priority. 
 
ESDP/Security Policy 
-------------------- 
20. (C) FM Tuomioja said that Finland's Parliament would 
endorse the general outline of the recently released "White 
Paper," although there would probably be many minor revisions 
and changes.  A/S Jones said that the U.S. was pleased that 
Finnish interoperability with NATO was stressed in the report. 
 
21. (U) A/S Jones has cleared this cable. 
 
Participants 
------------ 
 
Finland: 
Erkki Tuomioja, Foreign Minister 
Jaakko Laajava, Under Secretary for Political Affairs 
Markus Lyra, Director General for Political Affairs 
Paivi Luostarinen, Director General for the Americas and Asia 
Marianne Huusko-Lamponen, Special Advisor to the Foreign 
Minister 
Leena Liukkonen, Counsellor, Unit for North America 
 
United States: 
A. Elizabeth Jones, Assistant Secretary for European and 
Eurasian Affairs 
Earle I. Mack, Ambassador of the United States to Finland 
Robert Weisberg, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy Helsinki 
Theresa Grencik, EUR Special Assistant 
Helene Kessler, Information Officer, Embassy Helsinki 
David A. Schlaefer, Political Officer, Embassy Helsinki 
MACK