LITHUANIAN FOREIGN POLICY GURU QUITS AMID PRESS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 VILNIUS 000922 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/04/2016 TAGS: PGOV LH SUBJECT: LITHUANIAN FOREIGN POLICY GURU QUITS AMID PRESS SCRUTINY OF PAST ACTIONS REF: A. VILNIUS 815 B. VILNIUS 891 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: CDA Tom Kelly for reasons 1.4 (b,d) ¶1. (C) Summary. The surprise resignation on September 29 of one of Lithuania's most influential foreign policy figures has shaken the Foreign Ministry. MFA Undersecretary Albinas Januska, long considered the Ministry's most influential official, has close ties to Lithuania's security services and the ear of President Adamkus. Our own sources confirmed his comments to the press that he resigned due to the lack of support from Lithuania's political class with respect to (unsubstantiated) allegations of unsavory business connections and a conflict with a Lithuanian intelligence official who recently died in Belarus under mysterious circumstances (ref A). An MFA official close to Januska accused Russian security forces of orchestrating the scandal by purchasing the press stories, a claim reiterated publicly by President Adamkus's domestic policy advisor. End Summary. -------------- The Grey Cardinal -------------- ¶2. (C) Albinas Januska's influence has resonated far beyond the walls of the MFA. Januska entered the public stage as a member of Lithuania's Independence movement and signatory to Lithuania's Independence Act. Dubbed the "Grey Cardinal" of the country's foreign and security policy by the Lithuanian press, he was the architect of several of the government's most important strategic initiatives, including last May's Community for Democratic Choice conference; the pending sale of Lithuania's oil refinery to Poland (and the earlier sale of the refinery to Tulsa-based Williams Corporation); and Lithuanian efforts to encourage democratic reform in other parts of the former Soviet Union. Presidential advisor Simonas Satunas described Januska as part of the group of "patriots" who were present at the creation of Lithuania's independence, who worked to consolidate Lithuania's integration into the west, and who now feel let down by much of Lithuania's political class. ¶3. (C) Januska worked closely with Lithuanian intelligence officials, and seemed to participate in domestic political intrigue as well. In a conversation with us earlier this year, he claimed that the GOL (and, by extension, he himself) engineered the departure of Labor Party kingpin Viktor Uspaskich from Lithuania because of the latter's ties to the Russian SVR. Januska was also well-informed about the delicate inter-party negotiations that led to the formation of the Kirkilas government. Many observers here also attribute to Januska and his allies the investigations that led to the impeachment of President Rolandas Paksas in 2004. ¶4. (C) The reclusive Januska shunned meetings with more than a handful of individuals, preferring to hold court in his paper-strewn office. He was also mercurial, including in his attitude towards the United States. While he sometimes denigrated our nation for its "naivete," especially regarding Russia, Januska told former Ambassador Mull that the United States was "Lithuania's only reliable ally," and that expressions of support for Lithuania like Vice President Cheney's CDC speech in Vilnius last May were sources of "great inspiration." -------------- Undersecretary quits over allegations -------------- ¶5. (C) Our sources confirm press reports that Januska chose to resign and was not pushed out. Both the President and Foreign Minister publicly expressed disappointment with his decision, and the Prime Minister suggested that he may be a candidate for the post of PM's advisor. Renatas Juska, a MFA official who worked daily with Januska, said that the Foreign Minister was surprised by Januska's resignation and initially refused to accept it. ¶6. (C) In his first public interview since his resignation, Januska insisted (and our sources confirm) that he resigned over allegations in the press linking his past actions to unsavory business ties and the lack of support from Lithuania's political class to scotch the rumors. "When criticism turns into open lies and forgery of facts," he said, "it is always better to resign." Juska told us that Januska thought that the scandals in the press, while unsubstantiated, were impeding his work and negatively affecting the Ministry. Juska specifically expressed Januska's disgust at talk of his "mystical power controlling Lithuania's ministries," an expression that also appeared paraphrased in the press. "He wanted to act like a western official would act," Juska said, justifying Januska's VILNIUS 00000922 002 OF 002 resignation once the scandal's started to interfere with his work. Presidential advisor Simonas Satunas added that pressure is increasing on Januska's aggressively pro-West, pro-democracy camp, especially his close associates State Security Director Arvydas Pocius and Deputy Darius Jurgelevicius, who are subjects of the same allegations. -------------- -------------- Suspicions over conflict with intelligence officer -------------- -------------- ¶7. (C) Press reports focused on an alleged conflict between Januska and a Lithuanian State Security Department officer, Vytautas Pociunas, who died recently in Belarus under mysterious circumstances (ref A). No one has implied that Januska had been involved in his death, but rather that Januska had arranged the "exile" of the high-level official to Belarus. (Presidential advisor Satunas, who was close to Pociunas, refuted this claim, saying that Pociunas willingly sought out the job in Belarus.) According to these press reports, Januska had Pociunas removed from his duties at the State Security Service because Pociunas, as Head of Economic Investigations Sections, authored reports detrimental to the interests of businessmen close to Januska and contrary to Januska's policies regarding a proposed transportation arrangement between Lithuania's port in Klaipeda and Russia's port in Kaliningrad. These reports claim that Januska protected this "2K" deal to the detriment of Lithuanian interests in order to benefit specific businessmen linked to Januska. Other press reports tied Januska to Rimantas Stonys, a Klaipeda-based businessman and head of a gas company with ties to Gazprom, whom Pociunas had also investigated. -------------- Russians in the trees -------------- ¶8. (C) Juska told us that he "promised" that the entire scandal had been orchestrated by Russian security services because they blamed Januska for Lithuania's aggressive policy towards Russian interests. Lauras Bielinis, President Adamkus's domestic policy advisor, made a similar claim in an interview with one of Lithuania's dailies. He said that the Russian campaign against Januska was retaliation for Januska's threat to the Russian Ambassador that Lithuania may begin repair work on its railway serving Kaliningrad -- effectively severing this transportation link -- if Russia prolonged "repairs" on the pipeline that ceased supplying crude to Lithuania's refinery in late July, ostensibly because of an accident (ref B). Even PM Kirkilas said publicly that there may have been "a dirty slander" campaign against Januska. -------------- Future plans -------------- ¶9. (C) Januska was responsible for all bilateral relations, and it will take two well-regarded Undersecretaries to replace him at the MFA. Laimonas Talat-Kepsa will take over Russia and CIS countries, and Political Director Zygimantis Paviolinis will take over all other bilateral relations, including with the United States, according to Pavilionis's deputy. Januska's future is undecided at present. Besides public hints that he may go to the PM's foreign policy team, Simonas Satunas, foreign policy advisor to the president, implied privately to the Charge that Januska could go abroad as Ambassador, although Januska has said publicly that he intends to work in Lithuania. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶10. (C) Blaming the Russians is a familiar explanation whenever a prominent Lithuanian falls victim to scandal, and we may never know the exact circumstances that led this enigmatic official to quit. What perplexes us, however, is that Januska stepped down over such seemingly tangential and unsubstantiated accusations. Based on what we know, he would have been able to ride out this storm if he wanted to. At any rate, we believe that Lithuania's Svengali will remain active and influential in Lithuania's political and foreign policy circles for some time to come. KELLY