Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06MINSK666
2006-06-22 10:55:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Minsk
Cable title:
NATO Materials Seized from Local Deputies
how-toVZCZCXRO7172 RR RUEHAST DE RUEHSK #0666 1731055 ZNR UUUUU ZZH R 221055Z JUN 06 FM AMEMBASSY MINSK TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4590 INFO RUCNOSC/ORGANIZATION FOR SECURITY COOPERATION IN EUROPE RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 1325 RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
UNCLAS MINSK 000666
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PARM PHUM BO
SUBJECT: NATO Materials Seized from Local Deputies
UNCLAS MINSK 000666
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PARM PHUM BO
SUBJECT: NATO Materials Seized from Local Deputies
1. The Lithuanian Embassy, NATO POC in Minsk, informed post on June
21 that they sent a group of twelve elected members of local
government councils to NATO headquarters in Brussels for an
informational visit June 15-16, organized by NATO's Public
Diplomacy Division. Upon their return to Minsk on June 18,
plainclothes officials at Minsk's international airport detained
the group for over two hours and confiscated all the NATO-related
informational material they had received during their visit.
Lithuanian DCM Marius Janukonis told Poloff that this material was
all open source and available on the NATO web site. The
plainclothes officers told the delegation that if they wanted any
of their material back, they must file appeals with their local
BKGB offices. No other materials or possessions were seized, and
no charges were filed.
2. Janukonis stated that the Lithuanian Embassy and Brussels are
both likely to react publicly to this incident.
3. Comment: Several of the local deputies who went on this trip are
affiliated with the political opposition, which may have helped
provoke the BKGB reaction. However, this is not the first time the
GOB has acted to prevent information on NATO from reaching its
citizens. In March 2005 the Lithuanian Embassy tried to open a
NATO information corner at the library of the Belarusian Academy of
Sciences. Despite receiving all the necessary permissions from the
Academy and the MFA, at the last minute the Presidential
Administration blocked the grand opening and the GOB subsequently
changed its mind on allowing such an information center on its
soil.
KROL
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PARM PHUM BO
SUBJECT: NATO Materials Seized from Local Deputies
1. The Lithuanian Embassy, NATO POC in Minsk, informed post on June
21 that they sent a group of twelve elected members of local
government councils to NATO headquarters in Brussels for an
informational visit June 15-16, organized by NATO's Public
Diplomacy Division. Upon their return to Minsk on June 18,
plainclothes officials at Minsk's international airport detained
the group for over two hours and confiscated all the NATO-related
informational material they had received during their visit.
Lithuanian DCM Marius Janukonis told Poloff that this material was
all open source and available on the NATO web site. The
plainclothes officers told the delegation that if they wanted any
of their material back, they must file appeals with their local
BKGB offices. No other materials or possessions were seized, and
no charges were filed.
2. Janukonis stated that the Lithuanian Embassy and Brussels are
both likely to react publicly to this incident.
3. Comment: Several of the local deputies who went on this trip are
affiliated with the political opposition, which may have helped
provoke the BKGB reaction. However, this is not the first time the
GOB has acted to prevent information on NATO from reaching its
citizens. In March 2005 the Lithuanian Embassy tried to open a
NATO information corner at the library of the Belarusian Academy of
Sciences. Despite receiving all the necessary permissions from the
Academy and the MFA, at the last minute the Presidential
Administration blocked the grand opening and the GOB subsequently
changed its mind on allowing such an information center on its
soil.
KROL