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Viewing cable 07HAMBURG66, INVITATION TO NORTHERN GERMANY FOR THE GREAT WHITE FLEET

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
07HAMBURG66 2007-11-14 12:44 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Consulate Hamburg
VZCZCXRO5846
PP RUEHDF RUEHLZ
DE RUEHAG #0066 3181244
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P R 141244Z NOV 07
FM AMCONSUL HAMBURG
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0188
INFO RUCNFRG/FRG COLLECTIVE
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 0173
RUEHAG/AMCONSUL HAMBURG 0208
UNCLAS HAMBURG 000066 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/PPD 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL KPAO MASS MPOS GM
SUBJECT: INVITATION TO NORTHERN GERMANY FOR THE GREAT WHITE FLEET 
 
REF: STATE 152640 
 
1. (U) On behalf of Mission Germany, U.S. Consulate General 
Hamburg would like to invite the Great White Fleet to Kiel, 
Germany to commemorate the fleet's historic trip, strengthen 
U.S. and European naval cooperation, and participate in U.S. 
public outreach at Northern Europe's largest regatta and 
nautical festival, Kiel Week or "Kieler Woche" from June 20 to 
29, 2008 and within the framework of the Baltic Operations 
international maritime exercises. 
 
KIEL WEEK AND BALTOPS 
 
2. (U) The annual Kiel Week regatta takes place in the Baltic 
Sea waters surrounding the Kiel Sound.  The regatta and 
accompanying on-shore festival attract more than three million 
visitors from over seventy countries.  Not only can 
festival-goers view the many international and Olympic class 
races, but also participate in over 1,700 cultural, educational, 
maritime, and sports programs that take place through-out the 
nine-day festival.  However, Kiel Week not only presents a 
unique opportunity to reach a wide-ranging European audience 
interested in nautical affairs, it is traditionally the final 
stop of the U.S. military commanded naval Baltic Operations 
(BALTOPS).   BALTOPS is a multiphase exercise consisting of 
in-port events, at-sea serialized training events, and a 
coordinated scenario exercise designed to develop 
interoperability in execution of a peacekeeping mission. This 
combined maritime and land exercise takes place in the Baltic 
Sea, with the goal of promoting mutual understanding, 
confidence, cooperation, and interoperability among forces and 
personnel of participating nations.  BALTOPS 2007 participating 
countries were the United States, Denmark, Germany, Russia, the 
Netherlands, Lithuania, Latvia, France, Poland, Sweden and the 
United Kingdom. 
 
3. (U) In order to combine the unique opportunity of hosting 
BALTOPS participating countries' military ships in the Kiel port 
with the Kiel Week festival, the German Navy hosts an "open 
ship" day on the first Saturday of the festival.  Working with 
necessary security regulations, Mission Germany has developed 
special plans with the Germany Navy to improve U.S. presence at 
the Kiel Week festival as well as highlight U.S. - German naval 
cooperation.  The German Navy is planning to host "open ship" 
related activities throughout the weekend of June 21-22 and 
Mission Germany has requested PAO support from USNAVEUR to give 
the festival a special American touch.  With U.S. Ambassador 
Timken at the ceremonies, Mission Germany will be reaching out 
to interested school and university students, journalists, and 
the general public to emphasis the role of the U.S. Navy in 
today's changing world and the close teamwork between, not only 
the U.S. and Germany, but all of our European allies. 
 
ROLE FOR THE GREAT WHITE FLEET 
 
4. (U) Especially because Germany was not on the Great White 
Fleet's original route a century ago, its presence at one of the 
Northern German ports would be an outstanding signal of 
Germany's important role in the United States' new Cooperative 
Maritime Strategy.  Kiel and the Northern German naval stations 
are the home ports for German naval vessels participating in 
Operation Enduring Freedom in the Horn of Africa and UN 
peacekeeping activities off of Lebanon.  The Kiel Week festival 
presents an exceptional opportunity to display the ships to an 
interested public and support the BALTOPS goals and U.S. 
outreach.  The fleet's vessels will be at home with the many 
historic windjammers and military ships that attend the event. 
Mission Germany public affairs together with local partners can 
organize special information programs for the fleet in order to 
reach out to even more targeted audiences.  One hundred years 
ago the Great White Fleet demonstrated U.S. military power, but 
more importantly U.S. friendship and cooperation.  Mission 
Germany invites the fleet to make that overture again and 
continue a long tradition of U.S.-German friendship and 
cooperation in combination with the 36th BALTOPS exercises and 
the 126th Kiel Week regatta and festival. 
 
5. (U) This message has been coordinated with Embassy Berlin. 
 
JOHNSON