LITHUANIA ASKS FOR HELP WITH THE OECD ENTRY PROCESS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 VILNIUS 000217 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/26/2022 TAGS: PREL ECIN OECD EUN LH SUBJECT: LITHUANIA ASKS FOR HELP WITH THE OECD ENTRY PROCESS Classified By: Political/Economic Section Chief Rebecca Dunham for reas ons 1.4 b and d ¶1. (C) Summary: MFA Undersecretary Zygmimantas Pavilionis summoned the Ambassador on March 26 to complain that the USG was not promoting Lithuania's candidacy for the OECD. Pavilionis said that Lithuanian President Adamkus would press for Lithuanian entry during an upcoming visit to Paris. He said that the prospect of Estonia entering the organization ahead of Lithuania would strengthen the hand of those wanting to re-orient Lithuania's foreign policy more towards Brussels. He also characterized a presumed USG position in support of Estonia's candidacy (with what he claimed was an EU-centric foreign policy) as a strange policy choice if the USG had concluded that the OECD was already "too European." We explained the difficult hurdles associated with Lithuania's candidacy, but our Lithuanian friends will expect us to do more on their behalf. End Summary. We need your help -------------- ¶2. (C) MFA Undersecretary Zygimantas Pavilionis told the Ambassador on March 26 that he was "quite worried" about the process that would decide Lithuania's chances for OECD membership, a goal for which Lithuania is lobbying hard. Pavilionis said that he had learned from the OECD's Secretary General that a group of members, including Canada and Australia, were "blocking" Lithuania's membership because the organization was already "too European." Pavilionis beseeched the Ambassador to "do something more positive for us." Take us all . . . -------------- ¶3. (C) Pavilionis said that Lithuania had "friends" in the organization who had surveyed other EU members about Lithuania's candidacy. This straw poll, according to Pavilionis, showed that the Nordics and Finland wanted all three Baltic countries to enter at once. Other EU countries, he said, wanted all eight EU member states that are not yet in the OECD to join simultaneously, with the exception of Italy and Austria, which were focused primarily on membership for Slovenia. . . . Or at least, not Estonia -------------- ¶4. (C) The possibility of Estonia entering the OECD ahead of Lithuania would be painful, Pavilionis said, because all three Baltics have been working together "like family" on OECD entry. He also said that those Lithuanians that want the country to have a more EU-centric foreign policy (like European Commissioner Dalia Grybauskaite) would seize on the failure to gain OECD membership and use it to shame the MFA and President's staff for their support of a policy that emphasizes the spread of democracy in Europe's "neighborhood" and trans-Atlanticism at the expense of closer ties with Brussels. If the USG had decided that the OECD was "too European," Pavilionis argued, then a decision to support Estonia -- and what he called its pro-Brussels foreign policy -- seemed "not rational." ¶5. (C) Pavilionis asserted that Estonia was an unlikely candidate for the United States to support, noting that it is "just another EU country" and emphasizing that its representatives "never" speak up at EU meetings. He insisted that Lithuania's trans-Atlantic credentials are second to none, and its continuing strong support for the U.S.-led operations in Iraq and Afghanistan was a potent symbol of Lithuania's friendship with the United States. "We are your Trojan Horse in the EU," Pavilionis stressed. Too much for the OECD to swallow -------------- ¶6. (C) In response, the Ambassador noted that the OECD has significant institutional constraints that prevent it from accepting too many members at one time, making it impossible for it to absorb all the Balts, not to mention all of the EU's new members, at once. In addition, the Ambassador acknowledged that many non-European members did believe the organization was too Eurocentric and that these countries would want to see non-European countries invited to join in the next enlargement. Stressing the importance of qualifying on its policy merits, he also said that Lithuania's failure to qualify for the OECD's Anti-Bribery Working Group in 2002 was problematic. The Ambassador added that Lithuania's failure to submit material requested for this year's Special 301 Review was also a mistake, as it deprived USG agencies of VILNIUS 00000217 002 OF 002 the latest information on Lithuania,s economic progress. ¶7. (C) Pavilionis asked with whom Ambassador Bruzga should speak to press Lithuania's candidacy. Ambassador Cloud noted that EUR PDAS Kurt Volker was responsible for OECD issues in the State Department. Comment -------------- ¶8. (C) Pavilionis, one of the GOL's most avid practitioners of realpolitik, was surprised and disappointed to learn that we were not giving full USG support for Lithuania's immediate OECD membership as compensation for Lithuania's all-around friendliness towards the United States. The Ambassador's explanation of the OECD's institutional constraints and Lithuania's shortcomings on policy matters that are relevant to the accession process may have edified Pavilionis, but the GOL will continue to press this theme. The GOL seems more concerned that other new EU entrants might join the OECD before it does than whether it ever makes it into the organization. As the Lithuanians see it, they have supported the United States on many tough issues in the face of opposition from other EU members, and the USG should return the favor by helping Lithuania gain favored access to OECD entry. CLOUD