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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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