KGB SKELETONS HAUNT LITHUANIAN FM, SECURITY CHIEF

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 VILNIUS 000052 SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/NB E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/17/2015 TAGS: PGOV PREL LH SUBJECT: KGB SKELETONS HAUNT LITHUANIAN FM, SECURITY CHIEF Classified By: Pol/Econ Officer Christian Yarnell for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Lithuania's Foreign Minister and the Director of the State Security Department are under public scrutiny for their alleged Soviet-era service in the KGB reserves. Immediately after the media broke the story January 7, Foreign Minister Antanas Valionis acknowledged his enrollment in the KGB reserves and claimed to have filed a report prior to joining the diplomatic ranks. Pocius at first denied the accusations. The Prime Minister asked Lithuania's Lustration Commission to investigate, but the head of the Commission claims that there is no need for an investigation since Lithuanian law does not consider registration or service in the KGB reserves as collaboration with Soviet secret services. The scandal is unlikely to shake Valionis out of the Foreign Ministry, but we expect Pocius to come under increasing pressure to resign in the coming days. END SUMMARY. -------------- KGB Reserves: Lithuania's Latest Scandal -------------- ¶2. (U) The Lithuanian weekly Atgimimas ("Rebirth") published a report January 7 claiming that Foreign Minister Antanas Valionis and Director of the State Security Department (VSD) Arvydas Pocius are listed in the KGB archives as having served in the KGB's reserve force during Soviet times. Valionis supposedly began his service as early as 1981, attending special KGB training in Riga and receiving the rank of captain. Atgimimas claimed that Pocius joined the reserve force in 1989. Other leaked KGB reports indicate that Pocius's KGB service went back to 1984 and included assignments representing more than just enlistment in the reserve force. The Atgimimas story came on the heals of a controversy surrounding Alfredas Pekeliunas, vice-Speaker of Parliament and chairman of Parliament's powerful European Affairs Committee, who the opposition Conservatives claim has hid his past service in the KGB reserves. -------------- -- Background: The KGB Reserves and Lithuanian Law -------------- -- ¶3. (C) The KGB's reserve force was reputedly a cadre of specially selected personnel, not actively operating as KGB agents, but upon whom the Soviet Union would call in case of war. Valionis's reserve status, for example, apparently would have required him to serve in a Kaliningrad counter-intelligence unit in the event of war. A VSD official emphasized to us that the Soviets during some periods of the occupation assigned "reserve" status to anyone who received military training during University studies. Reserve officers were not employees of the KGB, said our VSD contact, but were simply "checking the box" on the required Soviet paperwork. The official also noted that records of reserve service are conspicuously incomplete, indicating that political figures desperate to hide past KGB service were often successful in removing their files. ¶4. (U) Lithuania's current lustration law, which came into effect in 2000, called those who had worked for or collaborated with the Soviet secret services to register with a specially formed Lustration Commission (ironically under Pocius's VSD). The Commission exempted from legal restrictions barring former KGB workers from state service those who registered and whom it found not guilty of any crime. The Commission theoretically guaranteed confidentiality to those whom they cleared in this manner. SIPDIS About 1,500 people chose to register with the Commission, but, despite the promised confidentiality, the media and various politicians have, from time to time, disclosed details of the service of many of the confessed. -------------- Political Reaction -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Valionis publicly acknowledged his past service in the KGB reserves immediately following the media disclosure. He mentioned that he had fully complied with Lithuania's lustration law, informing appropriate state authorities of his service prior to joining Lithuania's diplomatic service in 1994. Pocius initially denied having been aware of his status on the KGB's reserve list, but later on January 12 acknowledged the likelihood that he had been on this list. Pocius continues to assert that he never participated in any KGB activities as part of his reserve status and says that registration in the reserves occurred "without my participation." Pekeliunas continues to deny any KGB service, and he has come under fire from all sides for commenting in Parliament that Lithuania should serve as a "mediator" between Russia and Western Europe and for generally appearing pro-Russian. ¶6. (SBU) The opposition in Parliament reacted by demanding a full disclosure of Valionis's and Pocius's KGB record. Some of the loudest complaints came from the party of impeached President Rolandas Paksas, who while in office had opposed Pocius's candidacy for VSD chief and maintained a hostile relationship with FM Valionis, one of the ex-President's most strident critics. Responding to these demands, PM Algirdas Brazauskas (himself the former head of Lithuania's Communist Party) asked the Lustration Commission January 11 to examine the activity of both officials in Soviet secret services. Chairman of the Lustration Commission Vytautas Damulis initially clarified that, according to Lithuanian law, enlistment in the KGB reserve is not considered "secret and conscious" cooperation or "collaboration" with the Soviet secret services. Former KGB reservists, therefore, did not SIPDIS have to register with the Lustration Commission, and "the Commission has no reason to investigate (their) former status," said Damulis. ¶7. (U) President Valdas Adamkus, in a surprise move on January 11, defended Valionis and Pocius publicly. Adamkus told the press that there was no justification to question the officials' loyalty, since they had broken no laws. Adamkus expressed concern that raising past KGB service might do harm to Lithuania's international credibility. "Our partners abroad," he said, "must have a clear understanding that they (Valionis and Pocius) did not transgress against Lithuania, NATO, or the European Union." Parliament Speaker Arturas Paulauskas also staunchly defended Valionis and Pocius, stressing that both officials "have repeatedly proven their loyalty to our state." -------------- Comment: Valionis Safe, Pocius Vulnerable -------------- ¶8. (C) It is unlikely that this latest scandal will force Valionis from office. His staunchly pro-Western stance on foreign policy shields him from accusations of KGB and Russian influence. Registration in the KGB reserve may be more damaging for Pocius, who holds the sensitive post of security chief. His lack of candor about his relationship with the KGB may hurt him, as pressure mounts for both officials to release their complete KGB file. Pocius will be in a weak position should it turn out that he did in fact engage in any kind of KGB service. Although President Adamkus appears determined to avoid another scandal that might damage Lithuania's international prestige, the opposition and even some members of the ruling coalition have already begun to call for Pocius to resign. MULL