COURTESY CALL ON NEW DEFENSE MINISTER OLEKAS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 VILNIUS 000808 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/NB, PM E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/28/2016 TAGS: PREL MARR LT SUBJECT: COURTESY CALL ON NEW DEFENSE MINISTER OLEKAS ¶1. (U) Classified by: Pol/Econ Chief Rebecca Dunham for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶2. (C) Lithuania's new Defense Minister Juozas Olekas underscored continuity in Lithuania's defense priorities and optimism about future spending during the Ambassador's courtesy call. The Minister expressed hope that the support of PM Kirkilas would mean an increased military budget to meet the needs of Lithuania's missions abroad and its military transformation. Olekas also called attention to Lithuania's efforts to create a joint air-policing plan with its Baltic neighbors and its efforts to engage its non-NATO "neighbors"--especially, Ukraine and Georgia--on the road to NATO integration. On Lebanon, Olekas reiterated his statement of last week that Lithuania saw no possibility of contributing to the current UN mission in Lebanon, as the UN did not need the forces that Lithuania could provide. End Summary. -------------- Optimism on budget increases -------------- ¶3. (C) Olekas repeatedly stressed the strong support of Lithuania's new Prime Minister (and former Defense Minister) Gediminas Kirkilas for increased spending to implement Lithuania's plans to reform its military (and, of course, meet NATO's 2% spending minimum). Olekas predicted that the military budget would improve next year in response to the Ambassador's comment that military spending has been heading in the wrong direction. Although Olekas said he did not foresee a one-year solution, he expects to see a trend towards 2% of GDP. Lithuania's defense spending in 2006 is budgeted at about 1.27% of GDP, the same as in 2005. -------------- Lithuania prioritizing international missions -------------- ¶4. (C) Olekas expressed gratitude for U.S. support of Lithuania's international missions, especially the Lithuanian-led Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Ghor province, Afghanistan. The PRT remains Lithuania's top military priority, said Olekas, and he expressed pleasure with how the military side of the PRT was operating. He said that the Ministry was now trying to attract more of a civilian component to the Mission. ¶5. (C) On Iraq, Olekas informed us of preliminary consideration of a program to train Iraqi soldiers in the Lithuanian military academy, saying that trained Iraqi military was essential to the international mission there. Lithuania currently sponsors training for captains from the militaries of several countries, including Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia and Belarus. -------------- Lebanon -------------- ¶6. (C) Olekas reiterated his official statement of last week that Lithuania does not plan on sending any troops to Lebanon, saying that the only possibilities Lithuania saw were not on the UN priority needs list. He did not foreclose the possibility of future contributions should the UN needs change, however. -------------- Developing a Baltic air-policing plan -------------- ¶7. (C) The minister outlined Lithuania's coordination with Latvia and Estonia in developing a proposed NATO air-policing policy vision for 2018. The three Baltic states are holding meetings in Riga in the coming weeks he said, and Undersecretary Renatas Norkus will brief U.S. officials in Washington on the plan during his September 17 visit. -------------- -------------- Lithuania to meet both NRF and EU Battlegroup requirements -------------- -------------- ¶8. (C) Olekas said that Lithuania sees some differences between NATO Response Force (NRF) and EU Battlegroup demands, and the limits of coordination between the two. Lithuania nevertheless is on track to meet both sets of obligations. He added that Lithuania should meet the 2010 Headline goal VILNIUS 00000808 002 OF 002 for a deployable contribution to an EU Battlegroup, and is working with its Baltic neighbors to contribute to the NATO Response Force in the future. Lithuania plans to contribute to NRF 10 under Danish leadership. -------------- Neighborhood policy -------------- ¶9. (C) Olekas also raised Lithuania's efforts to engage its "neighborhood countries" on the road to transatlantic integration. Specifically mentioning Lithuania's support for MAP for Ukraine and ID for Georgia, he referred to Lithuania's various technical assistance programs to help these countries qualify for the next steps in NATO engagement. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶10. (C) With a background in Health (as a doctor and more recently as Health Minister) Olekas has drawn some concern in the press about his qualifications for his new post as Minister of Defense. He called the transition "a bit difficult" but cited the PM's support as critical to his learning. Nevertheless, though still new to his portfolio, Olekas appeared well-briefed and gave no indication of plans to change Lithuania's defense policy. We are cautiously optimistic that Olekas will make progress increasing defense spending, especially with the support of a former defense minister in the prime minister's chair. CLOUD