US embassy cable - 05ATHENS2635

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ATHENS 002635 
 
SIPDIS 
 
HHS FOR A/S WADE HORN FROM AMBASSADOR CHARLIE RIES 
EUR/SE FOR PARENTE/YOUNTCHI 
G/TIP FOR DONNELLY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OTRA, PHUM, TBIO, EI, GR, HRIGHTS 
SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR VISIT OF HHS ACF A/S DR. WADE HORN 
(ATHENS, OCTOBER 8-12) 
 
REF: A. ATHENS 2406 
 
     B. STATE 163054 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED -- PLEASE TREAT ACCORDINGLY 
 
1.  (SBU)  Embassy Athens warmly welcomes the October 8-12 
visit of Dr. Wade Horn, Assistant Secretary, Administration 
for Children and Families, HHS to Greece.  Your visit will 
provide an excellent opportunity not only to showcase 
U.S.-Greece relations, but to reiterate our strong commitment 
to advancing our human rights agenda in Greece, notably 
regarding trafficking in persons (TIP) and refugee 
recognition and resettlement.   We have arranged meetings 
with high-level policy makers from the Ministries of 
Education, Employment, Health, Public Order, the Mayor of 
Athens, and the main opposition party, PASOK.  We also have 
scheduled a roundtable discussion with anti-TIP NGOs, a panel 
discussion on "Refugee Status in Receiving Countries", a 
press event, and I will host a dinner with key members of the 
Greek Government's Interministerial Council on TIP. 
 
2.  (U) Looking back, the last three years have been 
momentous for Greece.  In 2002, Greece arrested the key 
leaders of the domestic terrorist group "17 November" which 
had terrorized Greece for 25 years, and had made Athens a 
"critical threat" post for the USG.  In 2003, Greece held the 
EU Presidency at the onset of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and 
kept the U.S.-EU relationship intact despite deep splits 
within Europe on relations with the U.S.  In 2004, Greece 
hosted the Summer Olympics, a major terrorist target, without 
incident.  In 2005, Greece joined the UNSC as a non-permanent 
member for the first time since 1952, and with the October 3 
decision by the EU to begin accession talks with Turkey, a 
key Greek strategic objective was met and a new course was 
set for Greece-Turkey relations. 
 
TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS (TIP) 
 
3.  (SBU) Among other topics, your visit will be a useful way 
to share best practices on trafficking in persons programs 
and to discuss common challenges from an operational 
standpoint. In Greece, the congressionally-mandated TIP 
report has been the key tool in getting government attention. 
 Greece is currently on the Tier 2 Watchlist for the second 
consecutive year, a designation for problem countries.  While 
Greece had made progress in recent years, it can do more in 
some major areas, including treating trafficked women as 
victims (not criminals), more vigorously prosecuting 
traffickers and keeping statistics on TIP-related 
convictions.  Your visit comes during the middle of the TIP 
reporting season.  We delivered in August an Action Plan of 
items for Greece to implement to better fight TIP, and will 
draft an interim assessment on their progress in November. 
The four items we are urging Greece to address this year are: 
 
a) to develop an effective screening and referral mechanism 
for law enforcement and NGOs to use in identifying victims 
and directing victims to appropriate care; 
 
b) to show an increase in the number of women referred to 
shelter and after care.  To this end, the government should 
provide NGOs with more consistent access to detention centers 
to screen and assist possible victims; 
 
c) to sign, make public, and implement a draft protocol with 
the Albanian government on child repatriation. (Note: This 
text has been returned to Albania and, at long last, is in 
final stages of completion. End Note.); 
 
d) to actively implement the 2002 anti-trafficking law and 
show an increase in convictions and sentences obtained under 
the law.  Also to gather and publish data on investigations, 
prosecution, convictions, and sentences for traffickers. 
 
REFUGEE RECOGNITION AND RESETTLEMENT 
 
4.  (U)  Refugee issues are another key interest area for the 
Embassy, and your Greek interlocutors will benefit from your 
experience.  Dozens if not hundreds of immigrants and 
refugees are smuggled every day on boats to Greek islands, 
often intercepted by Coast Guard vessels, or across the Evros 
River from Turkey into northeastern Greece.  There is 
criticism of the inadequate system for screening migrants 
when they are picked up en masse, leading some legitimate 
asylum-seekers to be detained as migrants.  Greece has not 
begun to resettle refugees in significant numbers, and in 
fact has one of the lowest asylum recognition rates in 
Europe, just 0.9% in 2004.  While there has been some 
improvement so far this year, there remains great room for 
progress.  Greece was most recently criticized for its low 
asylum recognition rate and poor treatment and integration of 
refugees by Amnesty International in a October 2005 report, 
and also by the UN Committee Against Torture, UNHCR, local 
NGOs such as Greek Council for Refugees, Greece's Ombudsman, 
and others.  Your visit will be an opportunity to share U.S. 
methods for refugee resettlement and integration and discuss 
the benefits to U.S. society of a policy of inclusion. 
 
5.  (U) The following represents some of the most significant 
issues in U.S.-Greece relations that may come up during your 
visit here. 
 
GREECE AND THE GLOBAL WAR ON TERRORISM 
 
6.  (SBU) In Prime Minister Karamanlis's May 20 meeting with 
the President in Washington, the two leaders affirmed their 
strategic partnership, and discussed a variety of issues, 
including democratization in the broader Middle East region, 
Iraq and Afghanistan.  Greece has provided funding to the 
NATO training mission in Iraq, leading a multinational 
medical unit in Afghanistan, and has offered to host a 
ministerial meeting on democratization in the Middle East. 
 
GREECE-TURKEY 
 
7.  (SBU) Although there are unresolved issues between Greece 
and Turkey, Greek-Turkish rapprochement remains the bedrock 
in their relations.  As a result, Greece has been one of 
Turkey's strongest supporters in the EU because it relates 
Turkey's EU accession to its own strategic interests. As is 
the case in many EU member states, public opinion in Greece 
has not yet embraced Turkey in the EU.  The government 
expects that a Turkish-EU dialogue on accession will 
contribute positively to stability in the region, while Greek 
public opinion shows that many Greeks, like their EU 
counterparts, have concerns about adding a large Muslim 
country to the EU family. 
 
BALKANS 
 
8.  (SBU) Southeast Europe is a tough neighborhood, with the 
countries of the ex-Yugoslavia struggling to move beyond the 
wars that wracked the Balkans in the 90s.  As the only 
country in the region that is a member of both NATO and the 
EU, Greece sees itself as a natural leader to assist the 
region's Euro-Atlantic integration.  We strongly support this 
endeavor and would like to see Greece play an even more 
active role, including re-energizing its 550 million-euro 
Balkan assistance program. 
 
9.  (SBU) One issue that often comes up in bilateral meetings 
is the Macedonia name issue.  Following the breakup of 
Yugoslavia, Greece and Macedonia in 1995 agreed on "Former 
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" as an interim name until the 
two countries could decide on a mutually acceptable solution. 
 Last year's USG decision to recognize the Republic of 
Macedonia by its constitutional name touched off a storm of 
controversy in Greece.  Many Greeks saw our decision as a 
deliberate snub and the explanation that we took this action 
to help defeat a referendum in Macedonia that could have 
split the country and de-stabilized the Balkans did not 
convince many here.  In the aftermath, FM Molyviatis has 
asked the USG to publicly support the UN negotiations and 
accept whatever solution Athens and Skopje agree upon.  We 
have done so and continue to strongly support the UN-led 
negotiations.  On the surface, the issue seems to be wholly 
semantical, but to both sides it strikes deep chords of 
nationalism and historical destiny.  Macedonia strives to 
join NATO and the EU, and to do so, must come to terms on the 
name of the country that will enter.  Greece needs an 
acceptable compromise from the Macedonians; otherwise, the 
decision on Macedonia's NATO/EU entry would be unlikely to 
clear Parliament and may end up in a referendum. 
 
DOMESTIC TERRORISM 
 
10.  (SBU) While we cooperated closely with Greece and 
congratulated their safe and successful Olympic games, we 
continue to be concerned about domestic terrorism in Greece. 
Greece made big strides by convicting key members of the 
infamous 17 November terrorist group, responsible for killing 
many Greeks and five Embassy employees over the course of its 
bloody, 25-year history.  The same is true regarding 
prosecution of members of another domestic terrorist group, 
Peoples' Revolutionary Struggle (ELA), which, in past years, 
had bombed nightclubs frequented by U.S. servicemen. 
 
11.  (SBU) We are concerned that the December 2004 brutal 
assassination of a Greek police officer guarding the 
residence of the British army attache may represent the 
emergence of a follow-on terrorist group.  We have also been 
concerned by the release of two convicted members of 17N and 
ELA (on medical grounds), believing this sends the wrong 
signal about Greece's commitment to the war on terrorism. 
Finally, more needs to be done to crack down on anarchists 
who use homemade bombs to attack targets like Citibank ATMs 
and political party offices.  We have an excellent dialogue 
with the GoG on these matters. 
 
 
PUBLIC OPINION 
 
12.  (SBU) A word on Greek public opinion and the media.  You 
may have heard about strong anti-American feeling in Greece. 
It does exist in a general sense, directed at official 
American policies, but almost never translates into harsh 
treatment of Americans on a personal level.  It reflects 
grievances over our perceived historical favoritism toward 
Turkey, American support for the former Greek military junta, 
the situation in Cyprus, our actions in Iraq, and, most 
recently, our policy to recognize Macedonia by its 
constitutional name, which, as noted earlier, many Greeks saw 
as a challenge to their national identity.  Polls bear this 
out: some 93 percent of Greeks opposed the war in Iraq and a 
large majority (80 percent) believe the U.S. plays a negative 
role in the global war on terrorism.  Some media outlets hype 
this sort of feeling, broadcasting violent images from Iraq 
and playing up any perceived slight against Greek interests 
by the United States. 
 
13.  (SBU) At the same time, there are signs of change.  Per 
capita, Greeks make up the largest percentage of foreign 
students in the U.S. of any EU country.  Many Greek elites 
have a nuanced and balanced view gained from years in the 
U.S. or from working closely with Americans in business or 
multilateral institutions. Your visit is part of the normal 
high-level exchange between our two countries. 
 
14.  (U) Again, I look forward to your visit and wish you a 
productive and pleasant stay in Athens. 
RIES