HAVANA AND MADRID PRESS LITHUANIA TO ESTABLISH

C O N F I D E N T I A L VILNIUS 000234 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/04/2017 TAGS: PREL CU LH SUBJECT: HAVANA AND MADRID PRESS LITHUANIA TO ESTABLISH TIES WITH CUBA REF: A. SECSTATE 16843 ¶B. 06 VILNIUS 1114 Classified By: Charge Tom Kelly for reasons 1.4(b) and 1.4(d) ¶1. (C) Lithuania continues to receive pressure, both from within the European Union and from the Castro regime itself, to establish diplomatic relations with Cuba. ¶2. (C) MFA Americas Division Director Jonas Paslauskas told CDA April 2 that Spain's AMB Fidel Lopez Alvarez demarched the GOL recently to inquire about why the GOL was out of step with the rest of the EU in establishing diplomatic relations with Cuba. Paslauskas said that he fended off the inquiry by noting that the Lithuanians were comfortable being iconoclasts; after all, they were the last European nation to abandon paganism for Christianity in the 14th century. He added that Cuba had sent its Helsinki-based Charge, Francisco Florentino, in early March to press the Lithuanians on the same issue. KELLY