LITHUANIA ASKS FOR HELP WITH AFGHAN PRT

C O N F I D E N T I A L VILNIUS 000305 E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/03/2019 TAGS: MOPS MARR AF LH SUBJECT: LITHUANIA ASKS FOR HELP WITH AFGHAN PRT REF: A. VILNIUS 194 ¶B. VILNIUS 172 ¶C. VILNIUS 125 ¶D. 08 VILNIUS 475 Classified By: Ambassasdor John A. Cloud for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (SBU) Summary and Action Request: Lithuanian MFA Secretary Asta Skaisgiryte Liauskiene called in DCM and DAO on 27 May to outline Lithuania's unsuccessful efforts to find donors for development projects at its Ghor Province PRT, especially the paving of the airport runway to allow military supply aircraft to land. Lithuania has approached a number of Gulf and other states for donations but has received no commitments; she asked for the USG to encourage these countries to contribute. If that is unsuccessful, she asked for USG direct assistance in paving the runway. She also asked for any clarity we can provide on GOA assistance in Ghor. We explained the USG and others have many development requirements in Afghanistan, but promised to pass the message to Washington. ¶2. (SBU) Embassy Vilnius is not in a position to judge where Ghor Province falls among other demands. Lithuania undertook this PRT at the USG's encouragement and its ability to continue to sustain the Ghor PRT would be jeopardized if the runway is inadequately paved. Lithuania hopes to maintain its presence in Afghanistan until at least 2013. We encourage the Department to do what it can to help the GOL, including requesting our embassies in potential donor states to push for the support necessary to maintain Lithuania's presence. End summary and action request. ¶3. (SBU) MFA U/S Skaisgiryte Liasuskiene and representatives of the MFA and MoD explained that Lithuania met with officials of Oman, UAE, Qatar, and Kuwait at a recent conference in Oman and described the four development projects it needs in Ghor Province: paving the runway, improving the Herat-Chagcharan-Kabul road, building a hospital and a children's center. None agreed to fund any projects. Lithuania reiterated its pitch during a recent meeting with the UAE Foreign Minister in Vilnius. While Foreign Minister Usackas described this meeting as positive, it has had no concrete results. ¶4. (SBU) Lithuania has also approached Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Canada and India without result. Skaisgiryte Liauskiene asked for USG follow-up with the Arab states because it does not have embassies in those capitals, but more importantly because of the USG's influence in the region. Lithuania has also worked with Japan and South Korea to obtain assistance in Ghor. Although it recently seconded a small number of experts to the PRT, Japan says it cannot fund any infrastructure projects this year. Lithuania is in dialogue with South Korea and still hopes assistance may be found there. ¶5. (SBU) Skaisgiryte Liauskiene also said Lithuania is having great difficulty in getting clarity from the Afghan Ministry of Transport about its plans in Ghor, in particular whether it plans to pave the runway to a lower standard than is needed to operate larger aircraft. She asked for insight the USG might have into GOA thinking. ¶6. (SBU) The GOL would also follow up on the recent Rome Conference on Afghanistan. It would be willing to organize a follow-on conference with participants from capitals as well as NATO and UN organizations. We were asked whether the USG thought such a conference would be useful for making concrete progress. ¶7. (C) Comment: The GOL took on leadership of the PRT at the USG's behest and has at times struggled, financially and logistically, to maintain it. After several years, it has finally reached the point where the military side is going smoothly. Its civilian efforts are another story. It has chalked up some small successes, but its limited foreign assistance budget -- tiny most years, infinitesimal this year with the country staring down a 15 percent or greater contraction in GDP -- has been a sore point. Normally the impact is to make Lithuania feel inadequate, next to better-funded allies in other provinces, and to rile up Ghor's residents, who are aware that other provinces are getting more aid. ¶8. (C) In the case of the runway at Chagcharan, however, the situation is different. The GOA seems anxious to upgrade it, and has already begun making improvements to other parts of the airport. The Lithuanians believe (and we have heard from other sources) that if the GOL does not come up with financing soon, the GOA will go ahead and pave the airstrip to a thickness that will not support the C-130s that have been critical for supplying the PRT. Should that happen, we suspect the Lithuanian PRT may become unsustainable. CLOUD