US embassy cable - 04VILNIUS1196

C O N F I D E N T I A L VILNIUS 001196 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/NB AND EUR/RPM 
NSC FOR M. RUPERT 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/29/2014 
TAGS: MARR, MCAP, MOPS, PGOV, PREL, LH, HT48, HT17 
SUBJECT: LITHUANIAN PARLIAMENT PASSES REVISED INTERNATIONAL 
OPS BILL 
 
REF: A. VILNIUS 991 
 
     B. VILNIUS 931 
 
Classified By: POL/ECON OFFICER TREVOR BOYD 
FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D) 
 
1. (U) Summary.  The Lithuanian parliament September 29 
approved a bill raising the ceiling on the number of troops 
deployable in international operations and extending 
authorization of current missions through December 31, 2005. 
The bill mandates that Lithuania deploy an all-volunteer 
force and allows transfer of troops within a region.  It also 
authorizes transfer of Lithuanian troops to the command of 
the United Nations, NATO, or an EU member state without a 
separate parliamentary mandate.  Passage of this bill 
advances an important issue on our bilateral agenda and helps 
ensure Lithuania's continued participation in international 
operations.  End Summary. 
 
2. (U) The Lithuanian parliament (Seimas) in extraordinary 
session September 29 approved a resolution to extend and 
increase Lithuania's participation in international 
operations in the Persian Gulf, Central and South Asia, and 
the Balkans, voting thirty (30) in favor, four (4) opposed, 
with four (4) abstentions.  The bill, which President Valdas 
Adamkus sponsored and Defense Minister Linas Linkevicius 
drafted, sets specific deployment ceilings for the three 
regions where the Lithuanian military engages in fourteen 
international missions, authorizing up to 140 military 
personnel in the Balkans, 120 in the Persian Gulf, and 70 to 
Central and South.  It also provides MOD operational 
flexibility to withdraw, deploy, or transfer personnel within 
regions as events dictate, without additional parliamentary 
approval. 
 
3. (U) The Seimas rejected an eleventh-hour bid by a Social 
Democrat MP Algirdas Sysas to reduce Lithuania's presence in 
Iraq and Afghanistan, but approved a motion codifying the 
existing practice of deploying an all-volunteer force to 
Lithuania's international missions.  The bill also allows 
Lithuania to transfer control of its national forces to an 
UN, NATO or EU-led command without additional parliamentary 
approval. 
 
6. (C) Comment.  The MOD pushed this legislative amendment to 
a vote before the October 10 elections in order to avoid 
having to educate new Seimas members on the issue and the 
legislative history, which could have substantially delayed 
approval.  In so doing, they advanced an issue high on our 
bilateral agenda and reinforced Lithuania's assurances of 
continued partnership in critical international operations. 
Mull