US embassy cable - 05VIENNA3142

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 VIENNA 003142 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
 
TAGS: PREL, ECIN, ELAB, TU, SR, AU, EUN, RU, CZ 
SUBJECT: ALPBACH POLITICAL FORUM: EU UNABLE TO PROJECT 
 
 
GLOBAL POWER 
 
REF: Vienna 3025 
 
1.  SUMMARY: The EU, a self-conscious "soft power," is 
 
unable or unwilling to use the potential for political 
 
clout that stems from its economic might.  At the same 
 
time, EU membership holds considerable attraction for 
 
countries in the Western Balkans and beyond, and is an 
 
important incentive for reform of those economies and 
 
political systems.  These were among the principal themes 
 
that emerged from the 2005 Alpbach Forum Political 
 
Seminar, which took place August 28-31 in the idyllic 
 
Tyrolean town of Alpbach.  Panelists from several Balkan 
 
states, EU RelEx Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner, Russian 
 
and U.S. speakers focused on the EU's strengths and 
 
weaknesses, the EU's relationship with Russia, the 
 
Balkans, the Middle East, and the EU's security policy 
 
potential.  Officials from Kosovo and Montenegro made the 
 
case for the independence of their regions.  Serb ForMin 
 
Vuk Draskovic gave a compelling speech to promote his 
 
vision of "more than autonomy, less than independence" 
 
for Kosovo.  A Czech Member of the European Parliament 
 
argued that the challenges facing the West were so urgent 
 
that no time must be lost in petty trans-Atlantic 
 
bickering.  Anti-American rhetoric was conspicuous by its 
 
absence from the discussion. (Note: Reftel reports the 
 
Alpbach Economic Forum. End note.) End summary. 
 
EU paralysis and future EU borders 
 
---------------------------------- 
 
2.  The negative mood in the EU following the "no" votes 
 
in constitutional referenda in France and the Netherlands 
 
was the theme of several keynote addresses.  EU External 
 
Relations Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner conceded there was 
 
an air of uncertainty about future institutional 
 
arrangements. However, she hastened to underline that 
 
Brussels was continuing its normal routine, pointing to 
 
her recent meetings with Iraqi and Afghani leaders. 
 
Ferrero-Waldner further spoke of the need to ponder the 
 
ultimate borders of the EU, but confirmed that accession 
 
negotiations with Turkey would begin as scheduled on 
 
October 3.  She urged new funding resources for the EU 
 
and advocated an EU seat in the UN Security Council at 
 
some point in the future. 
 
EU and U.S. roles in the Balkans 
 
-------------------------------- 
 
3.  Alpbach Forum organizer Erhard Busek was able to 
 
leverage his long engagement in the Balkans as EU 
 
Stability Pact Coordinator to draw a number of high- 
 
ranking officials from the region to the event.  In a 
 
spellbinding speech, Serbia and Montenegro ForMin Vuc 
 
Draskovic argued for Serbia's reintegration into the 
 
Western community of nations.  He dealt well with probing 
 
questions from an overwhelmingly hostile, late-night 
 
student audience who accused him of belittling Serb war 
 
crimes.  Draskovic laid out his vision for Kosovo ("more 
 
than autonomy, less than independence") and argued for a 
 
model similar to that offered to (but rejected by) 
 
Bosnian Serbs in the 1990s. 
 
4.  Draskovic's predecessor as foreign minister, Goran 
 
Svilanovic, spoke of negative EU perceptions of Serbia, 
 
and of the Balkans generally.  He urged continued active 
 
U.S. engagement as a prerequisite for progress in the 
 
region.  Kosovo politician and publicist Veton Surroi 
 
noted that the report by UN Kosovo Special Envoy Kai Eide 
 
would reflect growing frustration among Kosovars about 
 
delays in resolving the final status question.  Surroi 
 
would prefer to see the U.S. "impose unilateral status 
 
conditions," rather than accept a solution proposed by 
 
the EU-25.  Montenegro's Minister for European 
 
Integration, Gordana Djurovic, argued in favor of 
 
independence for her country, saying the referendum in 
 
spring 2006 will drive a peaceful and ultimately 
 
successful movement that will be a model for the peaceful 
 
dissolution of unions like Serbia and Montenegro. 
 
EU-Russia 
 
--------- 
 
5.  Experts at a EU-Russia panel provided a sober 
 
analysis of the state of EU-Russia relations.  They noted 
 
considerable frustration at all levels of the EU about 
 
the authoritarian course of the Putin regime in its 
 
second term. The strains between Moscow and Brussels 
 
were reflected in the EU's "Neighborhood Policy," in 
 
which the EU was seeking to create a "wider Europe" 
 
including, inter alia, Ukraine and Georgia.  This 
 
conflicted, however with Russia's conception of its "near 
 
abroad."  Former Deputy ForMin of Russia Anatoly 
 
Adamishin thought EU expectations for Russia were too 
 
high, not allowing Russia enough time to undergo its 
 
transformation process.  He also criticized the EU for 
 
using a "double standard" in its dealings with Russia, as 
 
opposed to China. 
 
EU and the U.S. 
 
--------------- 
 
6.  Anti-U.S. or anti-Administration rhetoric was notably 
 
absent from the discussions.  Former U.S. ambassador to 
 
the OSCE Stephen Minikes stated that while the U.S. and 
 
the EU were "not in the same house," both faced "the same 
 
fundamental challenges."  Minikes argued that criticism 
 
of the U.S. in Europe was frequently a result of a lack 
 
of understanding of American values.  Despite the recent 
 
U.S.-EU friction over Iraq, he recalled that both sides 
 
had accomplished a lot together in the past -- and noted 
 
they had no alternative but to stay engaged with one 
 
another. 
 
7.  In a debate entitled "Is there a global partnership?" 
 
Michael Haltzel, former Democratic staff director for 
 
European affairs of the Senate Foreign Relations 
 
Committee, argued that despite European perceptions of 
 
American unilateralism, Washington remained engaged in a 
 
wide web of international partnerships, ranging from the 
 
WTO to ad-hoc partnerships with the EU for humanitarian 
 
interventions to prevent genocide.  Most important now 
 
was cooperation in the field of counter-terrorism, 
 
Haltzel argued.  Czech EU parliamentarian Jana Hybaskova 
 
seconded Haltzel's comments, stating that the EU and the 
 
U.S. faced such enormous common challenges that there was 
 
absolutely no time for petty transatlantic bickering. 
 
BROWN