Τον Δεκέμβριο του 2006 οι Αμερικανοί αναρωτιούνται για τις επιδιώξεις και τα σχέδια του τότε υπουργού Άμυνας της ΝΔ Βαγγέλη Μεϊμαράκη. Ο τότε Αμερικανός πρέσβης Ries τον χαρακτηρίζει μάλιστα "διεθνή άνδρα-μυστήριο" και απορεί γιατί ενώ έχει στα χέρια του έναν διόλου ευκαταφρόνητο προϋπολογισμό σε σχέση με τους υπόλοιπους μετέχοντες στην Βορειοατλαντική συμμαχία, όταν βρίσκεται στα Συμβούλια του ΝΑΤΟ, φαίνεται να μην έχει για αμυντικά θέματα το ίδιο ενδιαφέρον όπως για αυτά που σχετίζονται με πολιτικές αναμετρήσεις στο εσωτερικό. Ο πρέσβης συνεχίζει εκτιμώντας ότι τις πραγματικές αποφάσεις για τον Ελληνικό στρατό παίρνει εκείνη την περίοδο ο Π. Χηνοφώτης ενώ καταλήγει με τις εκτιμήσεις του Π. Κάμμενου για τα θέματα του υπουργείου Αμύνης.ΔΕΙΤΕ ΤΟ WIKILEAK ΕΔΩ
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ID : 90465
RefID : 06ATHENS3232
Date : 21/12/2006 9:25:00 πμ
Origin : Embassy Athens
Classification : SECRET
Header : VZCZCXYZ0000
OO RUEHWEB
DE RUEHTH #3232/01 3550925
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
O 210925Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY ATHENS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7709
INFO RUCNCFE/CONVENTIONAL ARMED FORCES IN EUROPE PRIORITY
RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 4514
RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA PRIORITY 2731
RUDKSR/EUCOM PLANS AND ANALYSIS STAFF STUTTGART GE PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
S E C R E T ATHENS 003232
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/21/2016
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, MARR, MOPS, GR
SUBJECT: MOD´S MEIMARAKIS: INTERNATIONAL MAN OF MYSTERY
REF: A. ATHENS 2975
B. ATHENS 2868
C. ATHENS 2687
Classified By: DCM Thomas Countryman. REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D).
1. (C) SUMMARY: Despite the importance of his position, Greek
Minister of Defense Vangelis Meimarakis remains largely an
unknown quantity for the international community. Greeks,
however, nearly universally regard him as a fish out of
water. A New Democracy party politician and electoral
strategist with little apparent understanding of military
issues, Meimarakis reportedly was sent by PM Karamanlis last
February to the MOD to overcome traditional MOD/MFA
rivalries. Overshadowed on military issues by Greek CHOD
Chinofotis -- the closest thing modern Greece has seen to a
soldier/diplomat )- Meimarakis spent much of the fall
orchestrating ND,s victory in October local elections. But
his surprise December 12 lightning visit to Greek troops in
Afghanistan may indicate a new awareness of the political
potential of the MOD portfolio. Unfortunately for
Meimarakis, wanna-be replacements have already begun circling
in anticipation of early Parliamentary elections in late
spring or fall 2007. END SUMMARY.
INTERNATIONAL MAN OF MYSTERY...
-------------------------------
2. (C) Minister of Defense Vangelis Meimarakis (age 53)
occupies one of the most important positions in the Greek
government. Yet with a seat at the NATO table, command of
military assets in a strategic region, and control over a
military budget that is the envy of many European defense
ministers, Meimarakis has done little since taking office in
February 2006 either to advance the interests of Greece in
the international community or to advance the MOD,s
interests in domestic bureaucratic infighting. It is not
that he has tried and failed or made a mess of things.
Rather, he has been largely absent, focusing his energies on
his forte, New Democracy (ND) party politics and elections.
Thus, he has avoided contact with diplomats and rarely
intervenes (as he could) on NATO issues -- leaving others at
the MOD and in the GOG to fill the void.
...BUT CANNY ELECTORAL STRATEGIST
---------------------------------
3. (SBU) Key to understanding Meimarakis, approach to the
MOD portfolio lies in his long party biography. A founding
member of ND,s youth league ONNED in 1974, Meimarakis has
spent all his adult life promoting the party. A lawyer by
training, he was involved in student politics at Athens
University. He practiced briefly at a private firm but was
soon caught up entirely in party activities and was elected
to the ONNED executive board in 1984. He led the
organization three years later to sweeping victories in
university student association elections at the height of
Andreas Papandreou,s second PASOK government.
4. (SBU) Meimarakis, performance attracted the attention of
then-ND party leader Kostas Mitsotakis. An early friendship
with Mitsotakis, daughter (now Foreign Minister) Dora
Bakoyannis helped pull Meimarakis into the inner ND circle;
in the 1989 elections, Mitsotakis endorsed Meimarakis for the
Athens B district Parliamentary seat, which he has held ever
since. Meimarakis served as ND party whip and Deputy
Minister of Sports during the short-lived Mitsotakis
government (1990-93).
5. (C) Meimarakis soon emerged as a key ND political
strategist. Beginning in 1996, he held various election
planning posts and was eventually appointed Secretary for
Electoral Planning, a post he held until 2001, when he became
party Central Committee Secretary. Though widely viewed as
one of &Dora,s boys,8 Meimarakis also cultivated good
relations with the Karamanlis bloc, winning ND leader Kostas
Karamanlis, confidence. In the months preceding ND,s March
2004 general election victory, Meimarakis ran a tireless
campaign mobilizing local party organizations, cementing his
reputation.
AT THE MOD, A FISH OUT OF WATER
-------------------------------
6. (C) Meimarakis, appointment as Defense Minister in
February 2006 came as a surprise. Chairman of the
Parliamentary Committee for Defense and Foreign Policy Panos
Kammenos told us that the MOD portfolio &was not
Meimarakis, first choice.8 Worse, Meimarakis had a tough
act to follow, replacing Spilios Spiliotopoulos, a former Air
Force pilot. Observers believe PM Karamanlis placed
Meimarakis in the position to work with his old friend and
newly appointed Foreign Minister Bakoyannis to overcome the
intense, if muffled, rivalry between the MOD and MFA.
7. (C) As defense minister, Meimarakis could hardly be more
different from his predecessor. Where Spiliotopoulos was
warmly accepted by the military and closely managed key
programs (particularly arms procurement), Meimarakis has been
distant. He reportedly spends little time in the office,
appears to have out-sourced procurement decisions to a
meticulous (and very slow) lawyer, and has rarely traveled
abroad to meet foreign counterparts (his lack of foreign
language ability may contribute to this). At the same time,
he has continued to focus his energies on ND politics and
worked hard for the party in the campaign for the October
local and regional elections (in which ND did well against
opposition PASOK).
SO WHO,S IN CHARGE OF THE MILITARY?
-----------------------------------
8. (C) The MOD,s leadership vacuum has increasingly been
filled by Chief of Defense (CHOD) Admiral Panagiotis
Chinofotis, who has devoted considerable energy to building
confidence with the Turkish military (ref a). The Embassy
regularly approaches Chinofotis on substantive matters and
has found him to be an effective and straightforward
interlocutor. His influence was critical in the decision to
grant the U.S. CFE entitlements for armored personnel
carriers for training in Romania and Bulgaria (ref b). He
has also taken a pro-active approach to resolving the problem
of U.S.-origin equipment transferred from Greece to Cyprus
without authorization (ref c).
NOW WARMING TO THE JOB?
-----------------------
9. (C) More recently, however, Meimarakis has shown
indications of greater engagement. On December 12 he made a
surprise visit to Greek medical and engineering personnel in
Afghanistan. The precise reasons behind the visit remain
unclear. While MFA NATO office director Ambassador Zografos
told us the purpose of the visit was to highlight Greece´s
Afghanistan contribution for the Greek public, it is more
likely that, in the wake of the Riga summit, the GOG felt a
need to underscore its contribution since it had indicated
publicly it would not send additional forces or lift caveats.
On December 20, Meimarakis )- accompanied by Chinofotis --
also made a much-publicized visit to the Greek frigate
Kountouriotis, which was traveling to the Lebanese coast to
replace the Kanaris in the UNIFIL operation.
10. (C) Some see Meimarakis, increased activity as directly
related to his true obsession: electoral politics. MP
Kammenos believes Meimarakis, heightened interest in the MOD
was because &he sees that military issues can be used in
politics.8 According to Kammenos, Meimarakis could do well
in the position if he received good support. As for
management at the MOD, Kammenos believed Meimarakis should
focus on the big picture and leave operations to strong
deputies. (COMMENT: Neither of Meimarakis, two deputies
have shown a taste or talent for making hard decisions, and
Kammenos is obviously positioning himself for such a job.
END COMMENT.) Kammenos also told us that Meimarakis had
asked him personally to oversee military procurement issues,
which have been a notorious source of corruption in Greece,
but are now targeted for clean-up by the Karamanlis
government.
WHAT NEXT?
----------
11. (S) While the next regular elections are not scheduled
until 2008, it is more likely that Karamanlis will call early
elections in the late spring or early fall of 2007. Given
Meimarakis, performance at the MOD, it would be logical for
him to step down as minister at that time, and replacement
candidates have already begun to appear. Sources have told
us that the PM is considering Justice Minister Anastasios
Papaligouras, who reportedly would welcome the appointment.
From our perspective, we would welcome a defense minister
with greater engagement in issues key to both the U.S. and
NATO.
RIES
;2006-12-21 09:25
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