Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
04VILNIUS1292
2004-10-19 11:55:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Vilnius
Cable title:  

LITHUANIAN POLITICAL LEADERS AFFIRM SUPPORT FOR

Tags:  PGOV KNAR PHUM LH 
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 VILNIUS 001292 

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/NB AND EUR/OHI

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/18/2014
TAGS: PGOV KNAR PHUM LH
SUBJECT: LITHUANIAN POLITICAL LEADERS AFFIRM SUPPORT FOR
JEWISH PROPERTY RESTITUTION

REF: A. VILNIUS 1099


B. VILNIUS 1065

C. VILNIUS 657

Classified By: Pol/Econ Officer Christian Yarnell
for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 VILNIUS 001292

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/NB AND EUR/OHI

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/18/2014
TAGS: PGOV KNAR PHUM LH
SUBJECT: LITHUANIAN POLITICAL LEADERS AFFIRM SUPPORT FOR
JEWISH PROPERTY RESTITUTION

REF: A. VILNIUS 1099


B. VILNIUS 1065

C. VILNIUS 657

Classified By: Pol/Econ Officer Christian Yarnell
for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: Meetings we facilitated between American
Jewish Committee official Andrew Baker and key Lithuanian
political leaders October 13-17 resulted in a reaffirmed
commitment to restitute communal Jewish property. On the eve
of round two of parliamentary elections, President Valdas
Adamkus expressed optimism that the next government will
complete restitution. PM Algirdas Brazauskas, who has long
backed Lithuania's restitution efforts, reiterated his
support. Viktor Uspaskich, leader of the ascendant Labor
Party, pledged that his party would carry out the current
government policy. The Conservative Party's Andrius Kubilius
said he too supported property restitution in principle, but
hoped to ensure that the process was equitable. Overall, the
meetings advanced U.S. interests in achieving a just
recompense for Lithuania's legacy of the Holocaust era. We
are well positioned to pursue Jewish communal property
restitution with Lithuania's next government, regardless of
who leads it. END SUMMARY.

Background on Jewish Property Restitution
--------------

2. (U) The Lithuanian government has already restituted much
of the private property seized during the Nazi and Soviet
occupations, and has drafted an amendment to the country's
1995 restitution law to enable the return of former communal
property. (Note: Lithuania's Jewish community did not
distinguish between secular and religious holdings and
"communal property," which included, among other things,
synagogues, schools, and hospitals.) An international
committee of Jewish organizations, in coordination with the
Jewish Community of Lithuania, submitted a list of
unrestituted former Jewish communal properties in February

2004. The list identified over 1000 properties, and archival
research (nearly complete) indicates that about 200
properties will qualify for restitution under the envisioned
amendment to the 1995 law. Prime Minister Algirdas
Brazauskas has made clear his support for Jewish property

restitution. Despite Jewish community urging that the
Parliament immediately pass the authorizing legislation, the
GOL has consistently held that the Jewish community must
present a final list for restitution and allow the Government
to research the property claims before it will move to amend
the law (ref C).

Government: End is in Sight
--------------

3. (C) Despite the internal political flux attendant to
Lithuania's current parliamentary election process, we
encouraged Baker to come forward with a visit to Lithuania in
a coordinated effort to focus Lithuania's political
leadership on moving the restitution process forward. Baker
met with Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas, President Valdas
Adamkus, Labor Party leader Viktor Uspaskich, and
Conservative Party leader Andrius Kubilius.


4. (C) Prime Minister Brazauskas, who has been one of the
strongest supporters for restituting communal Jewish
property, assured Baker and the Ambassador October 15 of his
continued support. While Brazauskas said he could not yet
say who would head Lithuania's new government, he affirmed
that there seemed to be support across the political spectrum
for resolving the issue, provided that the Jewish community
could come to final agreement on the properties that it
believes merit restitution. Baker told Brazauskas that the
Jewish community would be ready to submit its final, verified
list to the government before the end of November, and
expressed hope that the new Parliament would act swiftly to
pass legislation authorizing restitution for those
properties. Brazauskas welcomed this commitment, but
expressed special interest in obtaining support from the
international Jewish community for what he said would be the
difficult process of combing through largely damaged and
missing archives in verifying claims to the property.
Brazauskas said he also personally supported forming a
foundation comprised of international and local Jewish
representatives to manage restituted assets on behalf of the
local Jewish community once restitution is finally made. He
said the government would facilitate the rapid legal
registration of such a foundation, and be ready almost
immediately to grant it a substantial financial contribution
to help begin its work.

Adamkus: Optimistic for Future Success
--------------

5. (U) Baker, accompanied by the DCM, visited President
Adamkus October 13. The President confirmed Baker's
speculation that the government failed to deliver on its
commitment to forward restitution legislation to Parliament
out of fear that the issue would become a political football
in the run-up to the parliamentary elections. At the same
time, he said that the GOL's commitment to seek communal
restitution "has not been retracted." While noting that he
was in no position to provide a "100 percent guarantee" for
the next government, he pronounced himself "very optimistic"
that the new government would reaffirm the commitment. He
explained that this confidence was based in large part on his
expectation that PM Brazauskas would hold the same post in
the next government.

Uspaskich: Would Continue Current GOL Progress
-------------- -

6. (U) Baker and the DCM met October 14 with Viktor
Uspaskich, the leader of the Labor Party, which took first
place in the first round of Parliamentary elections. Baker
opened by briefing Uspaskich on the issue's history, the
rationale for focusing on communal restitution, the current
state of play, and the relatively modest sums involved.
Admitting that his understanding of the issue was
"superficial," Uspaskich expressed support for the general
principle of restituting private property to its original
owners. He told Baker proudly about local municipality
efforts in his adopted hometown of Kedainiai to restore and
maintain two of the town's historical synagogues. On the
specific matter of nationwide restitution of Jewish communal
property, Uspaskich was positive, but kept his options open.
Speaking carefully, he declared "support for continuity on
this issue" and vowed that "you won't have problems with me
or my party." At the same time, he said that he would want
to scrutinize any legislation "for pros and cons" and said
that any restitution "must be carried out correctly."

Kubilius: Cautiously Supportive
--------------

7. (U) Meeting October 14 with Opposition Conservative Party
leader Andrius Kubilius, Baker provided a brief history of
the initiative to draft a legislative amendment authorizing
Jewish communal property restitution. He told Kubilius that
he anticipated the archival work on the list of properties to
be complete around the end of November and expressed his hope
that the Seimas would be able to move the legislation along.
Kubilius said that he had not closely followed this issue,
supported it in principle, but was uncomfortable with the
idea that the law would favor one religious group over
others. Speculating that groups like the Lithuanian Karaites
(a religious minority of Turkic descent) might have analogous
claims, he suggested it would be more practical for the
amendment to reference restitution of communal religious
properties, generally, rather than single out the Jews.
Kubilius offered that a general reference might avoid an
anti-Semitic backlash. Baker said that while other groups
might have claims to property restitution, he suspected that
their claims might differ from the Jewish community's, and he
said would hate to see time lost to have to redraft the
legislative text. We suggested that Kubilius might frame the
legislative amendment and the Jewish communal property
restitution program as a model for government action to
address other communities' property claims.


8. (C) Kubilius mentioned that many properties identified for
restitution might be in poor condition, and noted that on
occasions in the past the Jewish community declined the
return of dilapidated properties, which remained public
liabilities. Baker told Kubilius about the foundation that,
among other things, would raise funds internationally and
take on responsibility for restoring or maintaining
properties. (NOTE: Baker privately mentioned to us that
Citibank had recently discovered a prewar bank account worth
around $50,000 that had belonged to the Lithuanian Jewish
Community. Baker is working with Citibank officials to have
these funds transferred to the foundation once it is
created.) Baker agreed with Kubilius that restitution of
destroyed properties would be highly problematic and remarked
that a symbolic settlement might be appropriate recognition
and settlement.

Comment: A Homerun Visit
--------------

9. (C) The progress on Lithuanian property restitution has
recently slowed, as Lithuanian leaders addressed their
parliamentary futures and the Jewish community leaders dealt
with internecine wrangling (ref B). Baker's well-timed and
productive meetings with the country's major political
players secured commitments from all sides to proceed with
the restitution of former Jewish communal property once the
elections end and the work of the new Government begins.
Brazauskas appears likely to remain on as PM, putting him in
a good position to deliver on his commitments. Even the
issues raised by Kubilius, which to others might appear
obstructionist, reflect a genuine concern that the government
act equitably and a recognition that public perception of
biased treatment could backfire, derailing the restitution
program. The Conservative Kubilius is a strong USG ally, and
he will likely entertain creative solutions to successfully
complete restitution. Following his meetings, Baker noted
that he feels well-positioned to move forward with the next
government of Lithuania, regardless of which parties actually
form it. We agree that Lithuania is now heading for the
homestretch in realizing communal property restitution. To
that end, we will remain engaged with the GOL and Jewish
Community on this issue, an important and long-term Embassy
goal, to capitalize on this highly successful visit.
Mull