LITHUANIAN PRT FORCE DEVELOPMENT MEETING: WHERE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 VILNIUS 000417 SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/NB, EUR/RPM (SWANDERSON),PM/PPA (SKWAK) E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/18/2015 TAGS: MOPS MCAP MARR PREL PGOV LH AF SUBJECT: LITHUANIAN PRT FORCE DEVELOPMENT MEETING: WHERE DID EVERYBODY GO? REF: A. VILNIUS 367 ¶B. RIGA 322 Classified By: Political/Economic officer Alexander Titolo for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary. Dainius Baublys, the MFA's designated POLAD for the Lithuanian-led Chaghcharan provincial reconstruction team, April 13 expressed dismay at the lack of partner commitments to support the PRT. Baublys said that only few made firm pledges of support and only Iceland's met the GOL's expectations at the Force Development Conference in Vilnius April 12. Stressing the urgency of the timetable for procurement contracts and deployment, he noted that Lithuania was in the midst of interagency negotiations to determine how to proceed, but acknowledged that the PRT Commander had not altered his plan for full deployment before winter. End summary. ¶2. (C) Icelandic, Danish, Latvian, UK, U.S. and Lithuanian representatives participated in a force generation conference in Vilnius April 12 to review plans for staging the Lithuania-led PRT on Chaghcharan and international commitments to support the plans. The MFA's Dainius Baublys told us the following commitments emerged from this meeting. -- Denmark: Five to Ten Staff Officers. Participation of the Danish Ambassador to Afghanistan in the March reconnaissance mission had encouraged Lithuania to expect Denmark to make good on its tentative plans to send two Military Liaison Observation Teams (MLOTS) and medical personnel. Baublys said that the apparent change of plans -- with Denmark sending officers instead -- took the GOL by surprise. -- Iceland: One MLOT (starting in mid-October),a civilian development expert, a maintenance specialist, a communications specialist and two jeeps. -- Latvia: Will not make a final decision on its contribution until the end of April. Baublys's understanding is that Latvia's commitments elsewhere may limit their contribution to this PRT, originally envisioned to include one MLOT, three staff officers, and a force protection unit. (Note: Embassy Riga reports ref B that Latvia has already decided not to participate in the Lithuanian-led PRT. End note.) -- United Kingdom: Training. The UK will consider specific requests for assistance, but any UK contribution would have to be drawn from assets already in theater. ¶3. (C) Baublys calculates that, even adding three Lithuanian MLOTs and four civilians (one each from the Lithuanian MFA, MOD, U.S. DOS, and USAID),they come up short. He said they need at least two to three MLOTs, an EOD, intelligence personnel, and airport control and maintenance capabilities. ¶4. (C) We stressed in our conversation with Baublys the importance of Lithuania coordinating through SHAPE to secure support of NATO allies. Baublys said that the GOL awaited a SHAPE response to the requirements list Lithuania submitted April 4 through its NMR (ref A). He also stressed that suggestions he heard in recent meetings in Washington that FMF money could be used to procure equipment needed for the PRT were "unacceptable." Noting concerns about the diversion of FMF funds from planned Lithuanian military transformation efforts, Baublys confided that some MFA and MOD officials are already nervous that insufficient contributions from allies will make the establishment of the PRT prohibitively expensive. He estimates that they need to make contracting decisions for the first year of the PRT within the next two weeks to meet the current deployment schedule. Baublys said that, while there were ongoing discussions about the PRT between the MFA and MOD, there was as of yet no plan to change the original plan for a base camp to accommodate a 100 to 150-person contingent. ¶5. (C) Comment. GOL officials are disheartened by the lack of firm commitments, and they are under the gun to get the resources it will take to get troops on the ground. At the same time, however, we suspect the MFA may be sounding the alarm to motivate the USG to ante up. The GOL has invested a lot of political capital, both internationally and domestically, in achieving a successful outcome to this mission, and Defense Chief Tutkus made it clear during his visit to the United States last month (septel) that Lithuania's commitment is firm. The concern about the diversion of FMF funds from the military's force modernization project, however, is one that is shared by Lithuania's soldiers as well as its diplomats. Mull