GOL SCALES BACK BORDER CEREMONY WITH BELARUS

C O N F I D E N T I A L VILNIUS 000164 SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/NB AND EUR/UMB E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/16/2016 TAGS: PREL EU BO LH SUBJECT: GOL SCALES BACK BORDER CEREMONY WITH BELARUS REF: A. NAVRATIL-MULL E-MAIL 2/10/06 ¶B. SECSTATE 24337 ¶C. 05 VILNIUS 1076 Classified By: Political/Economic Officer Alexander Titolo for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: A senior GOL MFA official told us that the signing of a border demarcation agreement with Belarus will occur without fanfare or press and will only involve sub-cabinet level officials. The MFA officials have proposed a signing date of February 28 to the GOB and await a response. End Summary. ¶2. (C) The Ambassador delivered points (as conveyed in ref A e-mail and subsequently confirmed by ref B cable) February 10 to the MFA Political Director Zygimantas Pavilionis. Pavilionis understood the rationale for a quiet exchange of notes, rather than a splashy public ceremony, to finalize the Lithuanian-Belarusian border demarcation agreement. He noted that the local Austrian Ambassador, speaking on behalf of the EU Presidency, had made similar points. Pavilionis stated, however, that it might be difficult to get the GOB to accept anything short of a big public event and that, after 11 years of negotiations, there are many in Lithuania eager to see this deal finally done. The Ambassador suggested that postponing the ceremony until after the March 19 Belarusian elections might be another way of avoiding giving the GOB the propaganda coup this event would provide. ¶3. (C) The CDA followed up February 17 with Pavilionis, who stated that the MFA has proposed to the GOB that MFA Undersecretary Januska represent Lithuania in a February 28 signing ceremony and that there be no press. (Lithuanian Foreign Minister Antanas Valionis will be on travel for approximately two weeks beginning on February 21, and therefore unable to participate in the event.) The GOL still awaits the Belarusian response to this offer. The CDA also compared notes with the Austrian Ambassador, who said that the EU was satisfied with the GOL's new signing ceremony plans. ¶4. (C) Comment: This episode suggests that the GOL (or at least the MFA) has learned from its recent missteps with the GOB (ref c),even though the same pressures and prejudices that led to those incidents are still very much in evidence. This time, although the GOL let itself be seduced by the idea of a high-profile signing ceremony, it took the time to consult with the EU and USG and, more importantly, to listen to our advice. We're not completely out of the woods yet, since the Belarusians have yet to respond to the Lithuanian proposal for a quiet, low-level signing. We will stay engaged to make sure that the signing ceremony does not present the Lukashenko regime with any actionable propaganda material in the run-up to the Belarusian election. KELLY