US embassy cable - 05BRATISLAVA106

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRATISLAVA 000106 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/07/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, LO, GG 
SUBJECT: SLOVAKS SUPPORT EU-FLAGGING BMO IN GEORGIA 
 
REF: SECSTATE 21669 
 
Classified By: CDA Scott N. Thayer for reasons 1.4(b) and (d) 
 
1. (C) Poloff delivered reftel demarche February 7 to Lubomir 
Rehak, European Correspondent at the MFA.  Rehak said 
Slovakia will support the EU-flagging of the Border 
Monitoring Operation (BMO) in Georgia and expects consensus 
at the February 8 COREPER.  The GOS does not oppose a 
continued OSCE BMO but is "very skeptical" the Russians will 
remove their objection to a continued OSCE presence.  Rehak 
said the EU mission should be similar in size and purpose to 
the OSCE mission and only the umbrella organization should 
change.  The GOS will support retaining its three or four 
members of the observation team in Georgia under a EU-flagged 
BMO.  The GOS supports sending at least an urgent fact 
finding mission before the February GAERC meeting. 
 
2. (C) The GOS is worried about a possible Russian attack on 
Georgian territory based on the alleged premise of searching 
for Chechen terrorists.  Rehak said that the Russian Embassy 
in Tbilisi's January 17 statement on "Chechen and foreign 
terrorists" in Georgia is just one example of a possible 
Russian pretext to attack.  Rehak called the border a 
"sensitive area" with a "high probability of conflict." 
 
3. (C) Rehak expects consensus at the February 8 COREPER and 
has received information from the Baltic states, the UK, 
France, and Poland supporting the EU-flagged mission.  He 
said the Swedes have recommended Bush and Putin discuss this 
issue at the Bratislava Summit.  Rehak said it would be 
prudent to "involve the Russians somehow" so as to not 
alienate them and "jump into their sphere of influence." 
Rehak welcomed U.S. offers of support and said it would be 
very useful in promoting stability on the border. 
THAYER 
 
 
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