LITHUANIA TO RAISE NEIGHBORHOOD ISSUES AT JULY 17

C O N F I D E N T I A L VILNIUS 000663 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/13/2016 TAGS: UN KPAL PREL LH SUBJECT: LITHUANIA TO RAISE NEIGHBORHOOD ISSUES AT JULY 17 GAERC REF: A. STATE 114605 B. STATE 115346 Classified By: Pol/Econ officer Traver Gudie for reasons 1.4 b,d ¶1. (C) We delivered reftel points to Tomas Gulbinas, Head of the MFA's Common Foreign Policy and Security Division on July ¶14. Gulbinas told us that the July 17 GAERC will concentrate on the priorities of the Finnish Presidency as discussed in the EU political Director's July 6 meeting in Helsinki, and would reach conclusions on Iran and the Middle East Peace Process. Lithuania, represented (in the absence of a government) by MFA Undersecretary Oskaras Jusys, will intervene to promote its neighborhood policy goals and Eurozone ambitions during the first session about the Finnish priorities. Lithuania will not intervene on any external issues, and has nothing new to say on the Balkans, Iraq or Sudan points. North Korea is not on the July 17 GAERC agenda, said Gulbinas, but nevertheless thanked us for the points, adding that it is possible that someone may raise North Korea in the GAERC. -------------- LITHUANIA TO INTERVENE ON FINNISH PRIORITIES -------------- ¶2. (C) Lithuania plans to intervene to welcome the proposed priorities of the upcoming Finnish presidency and request the inclusion of the following points among the Finnish priorities: - Stronger support for EU neighborhood policy with respect to Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia; - Engagement of European Security and Defense Policy to help resolve regional frozen conflicts in Transnistria, Ossetia, and Nagorno-Karabakh; - Continued attention to energy security issues; Lithuania will also use the occasion to push Lithuania's case for entry in the Eurozone following the European Commission's June statement that it should review the application of Maastricht criteria, especially to fast-growing economies. -------------- -------------- COUNCIL CONLUSIONS ON IRAN, MIDDLE EAST PEACE PROCESS -------------- -------------- ¶3. (C) Gulbinas told us that he had drafts of council conclusions on Iran and the Middle East Peace Process, both of which will be discussed during the Ministers-only lunch. Lithuania plays a passive role in this process, he said, and will not intervene on either issue. He described the various drafts on the Middle East Peace Process as "balanced," calling for restraint from Israel as well as Hizballah and Hamas. He noted that the proposed statements were "harder on Israel" than the U.S. talking points, and one condemned Israel's "extrajudicial killings" of Palestinians. KELLY