LITHUANIA AGAINST BELARUS FOR HRC; MIXED ON BOSNIA

C O N F I D E N T I A L VILNIUS 000331 SIPDIS SIPDIS FOR IO/RHS, DRL/MLG, EUR/PGI E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/09/2017 TAGS: PHUM PREL LH BO SUBJECT: LITHUANIA AGAINST BELARUS FOR HRC; MIXED ON BOSNIA REF: A. STATE 63345 ¶B. STATE 58036 ¶C. STATE 64169 Classified By: Political/Economic Section Chief Rebecca Dunham for reas ons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) We delivered ref A and B points to Darius Staniulis, head of the MFA's Human Rights and NGOs Division, on May 10. He said the GOL opposes Belarus's bid to become a member of the HRC. He characterized as "very unlikely" the prospect that Belarus would succeed, and noted the recent UNGA resolution against Belarus. He added that the entire EU is opposed to Belarus's candidacy and France and others are considering tactics to defeat Belarus, especially in the second and subsequent rounds of voting. He did caution that Belarus has made itself "very visible" on Trafficking in Persons and is positioning itself for a seat on the HRC. ¶2. (C) He stressed that Slovenia's successful candidacy is the GOL's primary goal. He said that a Bosnian candidacy would be "tricky" and could draw votes away from Slovenia, because some countries might not vote for both Slovenia and Bosnia because of their geographical proximity. He said the GOL would use one of its first round votes for Slovenia and the other would be for Bosnia or blank. Even with the knowledge that Bosnia's candidacy is official (ref C), Staniulis added in a follow-up on May 11 that the GOL's voting decision about Bosnia will be made at the last minute based on advice from the EU and EU member states. CLOUD