STRANDED TRUCKERS PONDER EU "OPEN MARKET"

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 VILNIUS 001072 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ELTN PREL LH LG EUN RS BO SUBJECT: STRANDED TRUCKERS PONDER EU "OPEN MARKET" ¶1. (SBU) Summary: The long lines of trucks that began appearing November 20 at all four border crossing points where commercial traffic can enter Latvia from Lithuania have now largely disappeared, but the episode has affected Lithuanian-Latvian relations. Lithuania formally complained to the European Commission about the problem on November 27. According to Lithuanian sources, Latvian officials and others have offered a wide variety of explanations for the delays, ranging from poor weather and infrastructure problems to security concerns stemming from the November 28-29 NATO Summit in Riga. Other commentators blamed Russia and the interests of Latvian commercial carriers. While the immediate problem now appears to have subsided, this episode raises troubling questions about the Baltics' ability to constructively discuss and resolve a seemingly simple problem. End summary. Delays, delays, and more delays -------------- ¶2. (U) Commercial trucks can only enter Latvia from Lithuania at four border crossing points. Starting November 20, Latvia's border guards began letting far fewer commercial trucks per hour enter than usual, causing backups that generated front-page headlines across Lithuania. At one crossing, more than 400 trucks stood waiting to enter Latvia. That crossing, which usually processes at least 20 trucks per hour, was allowing no more than four trucks per hour enter, according to the Lithuanian border service's website. The other crossings had lines ranging from 60 to 160 trucks. Lithuania mobilized its armed services to provide hundreds of meals to stranded drivers, and other branches of the government scrambled to provide sanitation facilities. ¶3. (U) One of Lithuania's most widely read (if often sensationalist) national dailies carried the headline "Economic War Begins" front-page, above-the-fold in describing the situation. Some Lithuanians expressed their ire on Lithuania's most popular online websites, calling for boycotts of particular Latvian-made food, beverage, and perfume products. A wide range of explanations -------------- ¶4. (U) Lithuanian media have given several explanations for the delays at the border: -- In a telephone interview for a televised news program, Latvian Interior Minister Ivars Godmanis said that the reduction in traffic was necessary to ensure safety on heavily congested roads, noting that some 1500 trucks were queuing inside Latvia, waiting to enter Russia. -- Other Latvian officials have claimed that heavy rains and poor road conditions, combined with delays for trucks at the Latvian/Russian border have contributed to the problem. -- Lithuania's press reported other Latvian sources saying that the restrictions were necessitated by the security concerns for the November 28-29 NATO Summit in Riga. -- Lithuania's Confederation of Industrialists told the press that Latvia was trying to support its own transport companies during the holiday season by making it difficult for cargo to travel overland from Lithuania (in some cases from Lithuanian ports) to Russia, thus encouraging companies to use Latvian ports and, therefore, Latvian transportation companies instead. -- Similarly, Lithuania's National Association of Road Carriers (LINAVA) told Lithuania's largest daily that many ships at Riga's port were waiting to offload their cargoes, risking added costs and penalties for Riga's port authority. The Latvian Government, claims LINAVA, ordered its border service to restrict commercial traffic from Lithuania so that goods from the port could reach the Russian border more quickly. -- Another version (which we heard from our colleagues in Riga) attributed part of the problem to an increase of truck entry fees by Belarus, leading more truckers to divert through Latvia on their way to Russia than was previously the case. -- Other press reports suggest that the border blockage was a Russian-inspired scheme designed to encourage transport companies to send their goods via Belarus en route to Russia. (Why or how this would benefit Russia, however, is unclear to us.) An alternative Russia-inspired conspiracy theory is that Russia arranged the border delays to cause friction among NATO allies on the eve of the NATO Summit. ¶5. (SBU) A high-ranking official in Lithuania's Ministry of Defense told us that MOD officials had been in touch with their Latvian counterparts, who assured them that the situation was "absolutely not related" to any NATO Summit-related security concerns. An VILNIUS 00001072 002 OF 002 Interior Ministry official told us that some of its officers have inspected the roads on the Latvian side of the border and found no damage or construction projects that could plausibly be contributing to the border delays. She also said that Russia appeared to be letting in far more trucks (400 per hour) from Latvia than Latvia was allowing from Lithuania (less than 70 per hour). ¶6. (SBU) A close advisor to President Adamkus with experience in Latvia told us that Lithuania was "astonished" by Riga's approach to this crisis. The source said that the GOL, including Foreign Minister Vatiekunas, who served a tour as Ambassador in Riga, had worked its extensive contacts within Latvia and not gotten a straight answer back. (We understand from our colleagues in Riga that Latvian officials have engaged more vigorously with Lithuanian officials on the issue now that the Summit is over.) ¶7. (SBU) This source speculated that the main motivation for the border mess was pecuniary. He explained that shipments to Russia via Latvia surged during the pre-Christmas season, and Latvian authorities may be inhibiting transit across the Lithuanian-Latvian border to ensure that Latvian transport companies move the lion's share of the goods. He also thought that some Latvians were using the situation to dramatize the poor state of the Latvian road network in a ploy to win more EU funds for the transport sector. Finally, he shared the suspicion broached in the press about a Russian angle. Claiming that Russian investment in Latvian transport companies was extensive, he hypothesized that the Russians used these companies to encourage Riga to block the southern border, thereby fouling the mood in the run-up to the Riga NATO summit. Lithuania complains to the EU -------------- ¶8. (U) Lithuanian Transport Minister Algirdas Butkevicius sent a letter November 27 to the European Commission, stating that Latvia has restricted passage through the Lithuanian-Latvian border. The minister asked the European Commission to look into possible violations of EU laws and to take appropriate action. Not over yet -------------- ¶9. (U) Although the lines have disappeared, we likely haven't heard the last of this episode. LINAVA is busily calculating the damages to shipping companies and expects to seek restitution from Latvia. Their initial calculations suggest that these claims will amount to LTL 700 (USD 260) per truck per hour. Comment -------------- ¶10. (SBU) We have no doubt that there's a Latvian side to this story. The Lithuanians are also often quick to ascribe ulterior motives to Latvian behavior. What is striking to us, however, is that the issue reached crisis proportions in the very week that the world's attention was on the Baltics. It is troubling that the two countries proved unable to work this out without intervention from Brussels. This does not bode well for their ability to work together on larger issues, like energy. CLOUD