LITHUANIA SUPPORTS MOLDOVA IN CONFLICT RESOLUTION,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 VILNIUS 000686

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/19/2016
TAGS: OSCE PBTS PREL LH MD
SUBJECT: LITHUANIA SUPPORTS MOLDOVA IN CONFLICT RESOLUTION,
EURO-INTEGRATION

REF: SECSTATE 115371

Classified By: Pol/Econ officer Traver Gudie for reason 1.4 b,d

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SUMMARY
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1. (C) Lithuania strongly supports the U.S. position on the
Transnistrian referendum and will continue to raise
Transnistria in its dialogue with Russian on frozen conflicts
(reftel). Lithuania considers Moldova one of the primary
focuses of its neighborhood policy, and has recently engaged
both EU structures and Russian Foreign Ministry officials
about the Transnistrian conflict. Lithuania also strongly
advocates for deeper EU and NATO integration of Moldova, and
has recently stepped up its assistance programs to push
Moldova along the road to euro-integration. Lithuania has
leveraged funding from western European partners, especially
the UK, to provide technical assistance to Moldova aimed at
the Euro-integration process, and is co-hosting a conference
on Moldovan euro-integration and conflict settlement in
September. End Summary.

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LITHUANIA ENGAGES RUSSIA, EU ON TRANSNISTRIA CONFLICT
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2. (C) In response to reftel points, Acting Head of the MFA's
Russia and Eastern Europe Department Arunas Vinciunas told us
that Lithuania agrees with our points completely. Lithuania
supports a negotiated and democratic settlement to the
conflict, referring specifically to Ukrainian President
Yushchenko's seven-point plan. "There can be no democratic
settlement," said Vinciunas, "as long as Russia maintains
troops in Transnistria." Vinciunas told us that Lithuanian
Undersecretary Albinas Januska made this same point to
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Karasin during the latter's
visit to Vilnius in May, and called on Russia to live up to
its Istanbul commitments to withdraw troops from
Transnistria. Vinciunas said that Karasin tried to "argue
away" the Istanbul Commitments with respect to Transnistria.
Vinciunas said that Lithuania continues to promote "frank
conversation" about the frozen conflicts in its bilateral
relations with Russia.

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LITHUANIA HELPING MOLDOVA TOWARDS DEEPER EU INTEGRATION
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3. (SBU) As with Ukraine and Georgia, Lithuania views its
primary assistance to Moldova to be political advocacy for
Moldova's euro-integration process and support for
"open-doors" accession policies in NATO and EU structures.
Lithuania consistently advocates before the EU's General
Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) and other
European structures for greater euro-integration of Moldova.
Vinciunas told us that Moldova readily accepts Lithuania's
advice on euro-integration, and since May 2006 the Lithuanian
MFA has posted an advisor on euro-integration in the Moldovan
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Lithuanian MFA is
co-hosting with the Moldovan MFA a conference in Chisinau,
September 8-9, to bring European and American policy makers
together with Moldovan officials and civil society leaders to
discuss resolution of the conflict in Transnistria,
euro-integration and regional cooperation between Moldova,
Ukraine, and Romania.


4. (SBU) Lithuania is currently pressing European structures
to extend discounts to Moldovan citizens on Schengen visas.
Lithuania is asking that Moldovan citizens pay 35 rather
than 60 euros for the visas. Echoing Lithuania's similar
call for citizens of Belarus, Vinciunas outlined the
importance of person-to-person contact in the
euro-integration process.

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LITHUANIA STEPPING UP ASSISTANCE TO MOLDOVA
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5. (SBU) Lithuania has begun an assistance program, in part
financed by the United Kingdom, to help Moldova implement its
EU Action Plan. As part of the program, a Lithuanian MFA
official will sit in the Moldovan Ministry of Foreign Affairs
and help the Ministry implement different reforms aimed at
deeper ties between the EU and Moldova. Moldovan desk
officer Arturas Valionas told us that the Moldovan Foreign
Minister seated the advisor next to his office as a
significant sign of Moldovan buy-in to the project. Another
ongoing project pays for Moldovan Ministry of Defense
officials to study at the Baltic Defense College, and in a
two-week course on NATO integration held in Vilnius.

VILNIUS 00000686 002 OF 002




6. (SBU) Valionas told us that Lithuania plans to increase
its assistance, from four technical advisors to eight, to
Moldova's Border Assistance Mission. The eight advisors from
the Lithuanian security service focus on technical assistance
to combat corruption and smuggling. According to Valionas,
the assistance does little to address smuggling, as the
Moldovan border guards do not control the problem areas along
the Transnistria border. Nevertheless, the Lithuanian border
guards have helped gather information about smuggling and
brought transparency to the problem. Valionas told a story
about how the border guards recently applied the normal entry
procedures to Transnistrian leader Igor Smirnov, who,
according to Valionas, had been accustomed to crossing the
border without inspection.


7. (SBU) Lithuania is considering another assistance project
to send sanitary experts to help Moldova attain international
standards in its production of food products for export.
Valionas conceded that this program was aimed directly at
Russia's recent ban on Moldovan wines on sanitary grounds.
He added that an international technical advisor could add
transparency to the merits behind Russia's claims that
Moldovan wine didn't meet Russia sanitary standards.

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COMMENT
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8. (C) Lithuania can be counted on to support U.S. positions
on the Transnistria conflict. Its keen interest in
neighborhood policy and demonstrated willingness to engage
Russia and European structures on European integration and
frozen conflicts make Lithuania a valuable, willing
interlocutor on these topics.
KELLY