LITHUANIA ON TURKEY'S EU ACCESSION PROCESS

C O N F I D E N T I A L VILNIUS 001051 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/21/2016 TAGS: PREL EUN TU LH SUBJECT: LITHUANIA ON TURKEY'S EU ACCESSION PROCESS REF: A. STATE 189542 B. KYIV 4305 C. VILNIUS 573 Classified By: Pol/Econ Chief Rebecca Dunham for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d ) ¶1. (C) Summary. Lithuania's government agrees with us on the importance of keeping Turkey engaged in the EU accession process, but also wants Turkey to fulfill its Ankara commitments. Going into the December European Council, Lithuania is pushing its EU partners to consider a middle way, suspending negotiations on one of the trade chapters until Turkey fulfills the Ankara commitments. End Summary. ¶2. (C) We delivered ref A points to MFA Vice Minister Jaroslav Neverovic, Undersecretary Oskaras Jusys, and the PM's Foreign Policy Adviser Darius Pranckevicius on November ¶21. (We also note that A/S Fried discussed this issue extensively with Lithuania's Political Director Zygimantis Pavilionis - ref B.) All fully agreed with our arguments on the importance of keeping Turkey engaged in the EU accession process. -------------- Lithuania pushing for middle ground -------------- ¶3. (C) We followed up with the head of the MFA's European Union Department Vidmantas Purlys on November 22. He told us that everyone in EU working groups agrees that Turkey must do more to fulfill its commitments, but it is not yet clear what action the various member states will support if Turkey doesn't accept the Finnish compromise proposal. "We will of course resist any option that involves the complete suspension of accession negotiations," he said. Leading up to the December European Council, Lithuania is encouraging a middle ground as an alternative to complete suspension. This approach could involve suspending negotiations on certain chapters -- probably on trade -- until Turkey makes clear progress on its Ankara commitments. Purlys added that suspending too many chapters would be "counterproductive" and effect a de facto complete suspension. Purlys said that Lithuania is currently working this issue in EU working groups, where "we are not alone." Lithuania is not currently planning any high-level interventions at the European Council, although Purlys said he would propose such an intervention if it looks like there is support for complete suspension of negotiations. ¶4. (C) President Adamkus publicly argued for Turkey's eventual accession to the EU, calling an EU without Turkey "incomplete" in a June 17 interview with Turkish newspaper Miliyet that was also released to Lithuanian papers (ref C). MFA officials told us at that time that Adamkus had been planning the statement for a while and had coordinated with Baltic partners and Poland on the message. The principle of "open doors" for all countries meeting the EU's membership criteria is the cornerstone of Lithuania's neighborhood policy. Although Lithuania's primary focus for enlargement is in Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova, the Lithuanian government supports the accession of Turkey as a natural consequence of the "open doors" principle. CLOUD