US embassy cable - 05VILNIUS514

UNCLAS VILNIUS 000514 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS TO EUR/NB AND EUR/PPD (JLOCKARD) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OIIP, PREL, SCUL, MARR, MOPS, HT17 
SUBJECT: USNATO AND USEU 2005 TOUR FOR LITHUANIAN 
PARLIAMENTARIANS 
 
1. Description of Activity:  Four Lithuanian Parliamentarians 
from committees that play decision-making roles in 
Lithuania's foreign and security policy participated in a 
NATO and USEU tour.  The group visited USNATO, SHAPE, and 
USEU headquarters in Brussels.  Political officer Alexander 
Titolo and media specialist Andra Litevkaite coordinated the 
tour with USNATO and escorted the group. 
 
2. Dates: April 26-28 2005 
 
3. Justification and Objective:  Ensuring public and 
parliamentary support for Lithuania's NATO membership, 
defense spending, and active participation in NATO is a 
mission priority and part of our strategy for ensuring 
regional stability.  Parliament plays an essential role in 
achieving these objectives, and parliamentary approval of 
budget allocations is a sine qua non for Lithuanian 
participation in international operations and other 
security/defense initiatives.  The tour aimed to deepen the 
understanding of these leading parliamentarians (some new to 
the job) regarding NATO activities.  We included USEU in the 
tour to provide the lawmakers an idea of the extensive 
cooperation between the USG and the EU on a wide range of 
issues. 
 
4. Audience:  Vaclov Stankevic -- Chair of the NATO 
Commission and Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, 
Audronius Azubalis -- Deputy Chair of the Committee on 
Foreign Affairs and Member of the Committee on European 
Affairs, Roma Zakaitiene -- Member of the Committee on 
European Affairs and Member of the NATO Commission, 
Algimantas Matulevicius -- Member of the Committee on 
National Security and Defense and Member of the Commission on 
Anticorruption. 
 
5. Result/Impact:  The participants remarked on several 
occasions that the information they received on the trip will 
be extremely useful to them and that they will share what 
they learned with their Parliament colleagues.  We chose 
these particular participants because they have direct impact 
on foreign and security policy, but did not have (with the 
exception of Stankevic) sufficient exposure to NATO planning 
structures and working level experts to equip them as leaders 
on these issues within their government.  We can measure the 
success of the tour by the participants' significantly 
increased command of these subjects and their gratitude to 
the USG for helping them acquire it. 
 
--  Discussions at USNATO and SHAPE regarding the ISAF 
mission and the role of Provincial Reconstruction Teams 
(PRTs) were extremely timely, as Lithuania is now in the 
process of deploying its own PRT to Ghowr Province.  Because 
this is the first time Lithuania has undertaken such a 
mission, the Parliamentarians were eager to broaden their 
knowledge of the work done by ISAF.  They were also keen to 
learn from SHAPE officials about Afghanistan and to draw 
lessons that may be useful in supporting the Lithuanian PRT. 
 
--  Discussions at USEU exceeded the participants' 
expectations.  They had been unaware of the scope and depth 
of U.S.-EU cooperation and the perceptiveness of U.S. 
officials about EU affairs. 
 
--  Future expansion and transformation of NATO were 
recurring themes throughout the schedule, and the 
participants were very interested in discussions regarding 
NATO-Ukraine relations and NATO members' plans to balance 
contributions to the NATO Response Force (NRF) with 
contributions to the EU's planned Battle Groups. 
 
6. Quality of Support:  Excellent logistical support and 
program organization on the part of USNATO and USEU ensured 
that the trip proceeded smoothly.  The participants were very 
comfortable throughout the activities.  The working lunches 
hosted by USNATO Public Affairs, SHAPE and USEU were valuable 
opportunities for informal discussions.  All speakers were 
engaging, informative and knowledgeable on issues of 
particular importance to Lithuania.  Special thanks go to 
Thomas White and Kamana Romero.  Their patience, flexibility 
and excellent organizational skills made for a program that 
helped enlighten MPs who must support the GOL as it continues 
to make substantial contributions to the development of 
democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan. 
Mull