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