LATVIAN POL DIR ON MD, CFE, AFGHANISTAN AND KOSOVO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RIGA 000309

SIPDIS

NOFORN
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/03/2017
TAGS: PREL MARR MOPS PARM RS YI AF LG
SUBJECT: LATVIAN POL DIR ON MD, CFE, AFGHANISTAN AND KOSOVO

REF: A) STATE 57275 B) RIGA 165

Classified By: Charge Tamir G. Waser. Reason: 1.4 (b and d)


1. (C/NF) Summary: In a May 2 meeting with Charge, Latvian
MFA political director Ilgvars Klava wanted to ensure that
his comments at the recent NATO ministerial were clear -
Latvia supports our efforts at building a missile defense
system, but believes that European nations should be ashamed
at their inability to move forward on a NATO system.
Regarding Putin's comments on CFE, Klava said that Latvia
strongly supported retaining the Istanbul commitments as a
prerequisite for ratification of the A/CFE and looks forward
to joining the treaty at that time. Klava was pleased with
the strong Allied reaction to Lavrov at the NRC in Oslo.
Klava detailed Latvia's plans to send two police officers to
Afghanistan as part of the ESDP mission there and a civilian
advisor to the PRT in Maymana. The GOL hopes to increase its
civilian deployment and assistance contribution to
Afghanistan in 2008. Turning to Kosovo, Klava said that
failure to adopt a new UNSCR would make it very difficult, if
not impossible, to deploy the planned ESDP mission there, but
would not effect Latvia's legal basis for participation in
KFOR. He also offered personal thoughts on the Latvian
reaction to a unilateral declaration of independence in
Kosovo. End summary.

Missile Defense
--------------

2. (C) Klava opened with missile defense, saying he feared
that his comments at the NATO ministerial in Oslo (where he
attended in place of FM Pabriks) were misinterpreted. He
said he wanted to make the point that Latvia supports the
idea of missile defense and recognizes its importance to
Europe. Since it benefits Europe's collective security, he
was urging that NATO should be more active on this issue and
not simply wait around while the US does all the work. Klava
was afraid this was interpreted as criticism of US plans, but
on the contrary, he thinks that Europe should be embarrassed
at the inability to address this threat to our common
security through NATO, noting that it had been under
discussion for over 5 years, and that the US was doing the
right thing to move forward with willing partners. He also
praised our continued efforts to share our thinking on MD
with Russia, even if Moscow often chooses to pretend not to
hear.

CFE
--------------

3. (C) After receiving ref A points on CFE, Klava said that
Latvia strongly supported our position that Russia must
fulfill the Istanbul Commitments before ratification of the
Adapted CFE treaty. While Latvia wants to join the CFE
regime, it would not throw Moldova and Georgia overboard to
get the new treaty. Klava said he thought the discussion in
Oslo at the NRC on this issue was good and Lavrov seemed
uncomfortable with the coordinated assault on the Russian
position. FM Pabriks gave an interview terming the Russian
move "a power play" and underscoring the need to fulfill the
Istanbul Commitments. As a State not party to the treaty,
Latvia would not engage in debates on fulfillment of the
current treaty but will instead stay focused on getting to
the point that A/CFE can be ratified and Latvia could then
accede.


4. (C/NF) Asked about the effect on Latvia if Russia abandons
the CFE, Klava said not much was expected in the short term.
Latvian military officials briefed him that Russia lacked
equipment that could easily be moved to mount a major buildup
near the border with the Baltic States.

Afghanistan
--------------

5. (C) In line with its planned increase in the military
contribution to ISAF, Latvia is moving ahead with plans to
enhance its civilian contributions in Afghanistan (ref B),
Klava said, and the cabinet has now given its approval. For
the second half of 2007, Latvia plans to send two police
officers to the ESDP mission there when it is started.
Latvia will also send a civilian (MFA employee) to work with
the Norwegian PRT in Maymana to both coordinate development
assistance projects and serve as a political advisor. In
2008, Latvia plans to budget for four police officer and for
two civilian jobs (splitting the assistance coordinator and
political advisor slots) and for increased development
assistance.

Kosovo
--------------

6. (C) Latvia continues to watch developments in Kosovo.
Klava said that failure to adopt a new UNSCR to implement the

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Ahtisaari plan would not be a victory for either Russia or
Serbia, but would, in fact, be a disaster that could
destabilize the region. It was hard to imagine the planned
ESDP mission going ahead without a new UNSCR, he said, and
French reps had been especially clear about that in recent EU
meetings. Asked what failure to get a new UNSCR would mean
for Latvian participation in KFOR, Klava responded "nothing."
He explained that Latvian law allows for troops to be
deployed to missions a) where there is a UNSCR, or b) where
NATO is undertaking the mission, or c) when a NATO member is
leading a mission and directly requests Latvian
participation. That said, he felt that failure of a new
UNSCR would "create real challenges in NATO," citing Greece
as likely to be especially difficult.


7. (C/NF) Asked to speculate on Latvian reaction to failure
of a new UNSCR and a unilateral declaration of independence
by Kosovo, Klava (strictly protect) said that recent NATO and
EU meetings led him to believe that the GOL needed to do some
thinking on this. His best guess, stressing that this was
only his own thinking, was that Latvia might be persuaded to
recognize an independent Kosovo, but only if larger EU states
took the lead (he cited specifically the UK) and, most
likely, only if the three Baltics agreed to do so together.
"We won't be first or second in the EU on this one," he said.
He also speculated that pressure from the U.S. and key EU
members would be needed to move Latvia in this situation, as
the decision would have to be weighed against Russian
pressure not to do so.
WASER