Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05VILNIUS52
2005-01-18 10:47:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Vilnius
Cable title:  

KGB SKELETONS HAUNT LITHUANIAN FM, SECURITY CHIEF

Tags:  PGOV PREL LH 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
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)

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.

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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.

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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

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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