LATVIA'S PROPOSED AMBASSADOR TO WASHINGTON -

C O N F I D E N T I A L RIGA 000051

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
NOFORN

STATE ALSO FOR INR/B

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/18/2017
TAGS: PINR PREL PGOV LG
SUBJECT: LATVIA'S PROPOSED AMBASSADOR TO WASHINGTON -
ANDREJS PILDEGOVICS


Classified By: Ambassador Catherine Todd Bailey. Reason: 1.4 (b & d)


1. (C/NF) Summary: Latvia has nominated Andrejs Pildegovics,
currently President Vike-Freiberga's Chief of Staff, as its
next Ambassador to Washington and Mexico City. We have had a
long and productive relationship with Pildegovics and have
always found him accessible. While his academic and career
background make him probably the Latvian government's
greatest China expert, his nearly seven years of working for
the President, six as foreign policy advisor and chief of
staff since July, have given him a broad scope of experience.
He is personally well connected to many of the key players
in Latvian foreign policy. End summary.


2. (U) Andrejs Pildegovics was born in August 11, 1971 in
Vladivostok, where his Latvian native father, Peteris
Pildegovics, taught languages at a university. His mother,
Galina Panina, is ethnic Russian. Pildegovics holds a degree
in Chinese language, culture and geography from the
University of St. Petersburg (formerly Leningrad State
University),which he entered in 1989. In 1991, as part of
his studies, he traveled to Tibet, and remained in China for
a year of language training. He began his career at the
Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1994, and has held
various posts such as assistant to the State Secretary, press
spokesman, and head of the Asia and Africa Department. In
2000, Pildegovics began working as President
Vike-Freiberga,s foreign policy advisor. In the summer of
2006, he replaced Martins Bondars as the president,s chief
of staff. He is fluent in Latvian, Russian, English and
Chinese. His ethnic Russian wife, Jelena, is a teacher of
Eastern languages and also speaks fluent Chinese. They have
three children.


3. (C/NF) When PM Aigars Kalvitis told President
Vike-Freiberga at the NATO summit that he would recall
current Ambassador to Washington Maris Riekstins to be his
Chief of Staff, Vike-Freiberga responded that she wanted to
see Pildegovics go as the replacement. While Kalvitis and FM
Pabriks toyed with other names, in the end they decided to
support Pildegovics and in just over three weeks he had been
approved by the foreign affairs committee of Parliament, in
Latvia a prerequisite to requesting agrement.


4. (C/NF) We have had extensive contact with Pildegovics in
his work for the President. We have found him to be a
reliable interlocutor. He is generally a calm and quiet
person, rarely fazed, even in high pressure situation. In
meetings, he often wants to hear from others first, even if
he has called the meeting. He rarely will show his hand
right away, preferring to take issues under consideration
before reaching a final decision. In this he is nearly the
complete opposite of his predecessor, Martins Bondars. Where
Bondars would reach decisions instantly and could seemingly
juggle two conversations and three phone calls at the same
time, Pildegovics approaches things in a more deliberate
manner. He brings his impressive intellect to bear on every
issue and when he announces a decision, it is clear he has
given it a lot of thought. At the same time, contacts in the
Latvian government sometimes express frustration that at the
end of a session with Pildegovics they have no clearer idea
of where he or the President stand on the issue, or find they
have to wait for instruction when they had hoped for a quick
answer.


5. (C/NF) Perhaps it is a result of his China expertise and
experience, but Pildegovics' deliberate style and lack of
snap decisions reflect a focus on the longer view. For
example, when briefing Emboff about the visit of former
Russian President Yeltsin to Latvia in August, Pildegovics
spent most of the time musing about how this could pay
benefits down the road when most other interlocutors were
focused on the significance of the moment. In other
conversations on policy issues, he has taken a similar long
term view about where a policy will lead in five - ten years.


6. (C/NF) Pildegovics is deeply loyal to the President and
always concerned to protect her equities in a policy
discussion. He seems to genuinely feel that it would be
wrong of him to leave for Washington before her term in
office is up in early July and Latvia will take a nearly six
month gap in Washington as a result. Vike-Freiberga has,
through force of personality and intellect, built a role for
herself in foreign affairs far broader than that envisioned
by the Constitution. In doing so, she has largely ignored
the foreign ministry, especially under minister Pabriks, whom
she personally dislikes. Pildegovics has taken the same
attitude and one senior Latvian official said that
Pildegovics is unlikely to take much direction from Pabriks
or MFA State Secretary Penke. Instead, he will rely on
discussions with Bondars, former Ambassador to Washington and
NATO Aivis Ronis, and his predecessor in Washington, Maris
Riekstins (who has returned to become PM Kalvitis' Chief of
Staff),in developing his approaches in Washington. In the
end, this will not be much different from the situation under
Riekstins, who relied on the same group for his counsel.
Pildegovics continues to play hockey on a weekly basis on a
team with Bondars and regularly consults by phone and in
person with Ronis and Riekstins.
BAILEY