LITHUANIA: WMO SHOULD REMAIN WEATHER-FOCUSED

UNCLAS VILNIUS 000271 SIPDIS SIPDIS FOR IO/T ROBERTS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SENV TPHY LH SUBJECT: LITHUANIA: WMO SHOULD REMAIN WEATHER-FOCUSED REF: STATE 47359 We delivered reftel points to Vida Auguliene, Director of the Hydrometeorological Service, and to Dalia Kraulyte, Head of the MFA's Multilateral Relations Department, on April 13. Both indicated that the MFA is minimally involved in the GOL's relations with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Auguliene added that, because of resource constraints, the GOL has no plans to expand the MFA's role. She added that she corresponds directly with the GOL's mission in Geneva and only rarely with the MFA in Vilnius. Auguliene said she would be the GOL's sole representative at the WMO's Congress in May in Geneva. Auguliene said the GOL shares the USG's concern that the WMO not overextend itself. The GOL feels the WMO should limit its concerns to "weather, climate, and water." Auguliene said the GOL agrees that the WMO should become more transparent while remaining a technically-focused, and not politically-focused, institution. CLOUD