LITSKAI: HEADING TO MADRID

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CHISINAU 001400

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/27/2017
TAGS: PREL PBTS OSCE PGOV MD
SUBJECT: LITSKAI: HEADING TO MADRID


CHISINAU 00001400 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: Ambassador Michael D. Kirby for reasons 1.4(b) and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: Transnistrian "Foreign Minister" Litskai
intends to travel to Madrid for consultations on the
sidelines of the OSCE Ministerial. In a November 23 meeting,
Litskai told Ambassador Kirby he expected the Finns would
provide much better leadership for OSCE than the Spanish had.
While the Transnistrian (TN) leadership will not ask
directly for aid, Litskai expressed interest in seeing some
20 percent of the total Millennium Challenge Corporation
(MCC) compact program channeled to their needs. Litskai was
open to assistance in the health and agricultural sectors,
but suggested the USG work through raion-level local
leadership. Litskai said he had acted as a "dove," taking
political risks to meet with GOM Minister for Reintegration
Sova and the 5 plus 2 members in Odessa, but then had been
sabotaged by recent GOM actions. We've changed places with
Moldova, he suggested, now they are the ones not ready for
peace. End Summary.

Litskai Plans to Travel to Madrid
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2. (C) Litskai told the Ambassador that he planned to travel
to the upcoming OSCE Ministerial in Madrid. It will be an
opportunity for informal exchanges, he said, to talk to
everyone there. He expressed his frustration with the
failures of Spanish leadership, but was confident the Finns
would work more actively. The Finns, he said, have a good
group of experts who have studied the Transnistrian problem
and worked on it for years. (Comment: Litskai's travel plans
suggest that he already received his Spanish visa during his
recent trip to Moscow. EU Ambassadors in Chisinau tell us
they are unaware of Spanish consultations with other EU
countries before granting the visa to Litskai and effectively
overriding the EU's visa ban. End Comment.)

Give 20 Percent of MCC Compact to Transnistria
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3. (C) Litskai suggested that the USG should use the
"percentage of population" rule to allocate 20 percent of any
future MCC Compact program to Transnistria. Litskai
expressed some concerns that the GOM would steal too high a
percentage of the money. The Ambassador explained that the
USG had made efforts to design a program that would not allow
this slippage, and suggested that Litskai meet directly with
MCC officials during their next visit to Moldova. At the
same time, the Ambassador made no promise either of MCC
assistance or of a prearranged division of any possible
assistance. The "foreign minister" agreed to a meeting in
Tiraspol to learn more about the MCC Compact program and how
it worked. He noted that on mutually-profitable issues, such
as gas problems and banking, Tiraspol and Chisinau
authorities had already proven themselves capable of working
together.


4. (C) Litskai noted that it was a peculiarity of
Transnistrian political culture that the authorities would
maintain that they did not need any help. Let our fields
wither away, he joked, let our submarine drown, and the
leadership would still not acknowledge needing assistance.
He compared this attitude to right-bank authorities, begging
with their outstretched hand. Despite their political
culture, Litskai acknowledged a broad need for economic
assistance in general and for agricultural aid in particular.
In the wake of last summer's drought, Transnistria would
definitely need seeds, Litskai thought. As each district
(raion) had different agricultural needs, Litskai suggested
that the best approach was to coordinate directly with the
raion administration. Though the Ambassador asked twice
about specific districts that were hardest hit, Litskai did
not name a specific district.

Recent GOM Decree Strengthens the Hawks
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5. (C) Litskai noted he had taken a political risk in
attending the informal 5 plus 2 meeting in Odessa. Later,
the Transnistrians had agreed to participate in a November 13
Madrid meeting while Sova, according to Litskai, subsequently
refused. Litskai said that now the Transnistrians had
changed places with the Chisinau authorities, and had become
more cooperative, while the GOM was blocking the process.
Litskai cited as an example the recent GOM creation of seven
working groups. He claimed that TN had responded that it was
ready to engage, but wanted to see concrete projects.
Instead, he complained, the GOM had nothing concrete to offer
and President Voronin said he needed until mid-December.
Litskai claimed that this proved that the GOM was not ready
for peace.


CHISINAU 00001400 002.2 OF 002



6. (C) Litskai said that the GOM's recent license plate
decree (which would require re-registration on the right bank
of TN-registered vehicles) had strengthened the hawks in the
TN government, who were calling for a full-scale retaliation.
Litskai considered himself to be among the Tiraspol doves.
The Ambassador urged Litskai that TN not undertake any hasty
retaliation, since the decree was likely to be modified.
Litskai suggested that the public release of this ill-timed
decree showed that Voronin does not control the situation.
The decree also hit Sova, Litskai noted, exposing both
negotiators to attacks by their respective hawks.


7. (C) The Ambassador reminded Litskai of the unhelpful
signals that the Transnistrian side had sent recently. While
in Abkhazia, Litskai had made comments that were not well
received in Chisinau. The hawks in Chisinau were happy to
hear those statements. Now, said the Ambassador, those who
want to move forward had to control the extremists. Litskai
responded that the Sukhumi statements were mostly posturing
to coordinate a single approach on how to react following any
possible unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo.

Comment:
--------------


8. (C) The mercurial Litskai was once again in a cooperative
and constructive mode, ready to engage in practical
discussions on MCC and on moving forward with 5 plus 2. For
now, Litskai appears to be ready to talk. However, it is not
clear that he is ready ) or empowered ) to negotiate. In
any case, his departure for the OSCE Ministerial in Madrid is
unhelpful. The Spanish apparently violated the EU ban on
visas for Transnistrian leaders by granting Litskai a visa
without consulting other partners. The news of Litskai's
plans to go to Madrid has angered the Moldovans. They have
threatened to walk out, but the Ambassador encouraged Sova
(during a November 27 meeting) and Minister of Foreign
Affairs and European Integration Stratan (via a chat with DFM
Ostalep also on November 27) to maintain diplomatic composure
so that the Moldovan side could take the moral high ground
and appear ready for talks.
KIRBY