US embassy cable - 05VILNIUS572

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 VILNIUS 000572 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/NB, EUR/UMB, EUR/ERA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/02/2014 
TAGS: PREL, LH, UP, HT13 
SUBJECT: LITHUANIA SEEKS TO USHER UKRAINE TO BRUSSELS 
 
 
Classified By: POLITICAL/ECONOMIC OFFICER ALEXANDER TITOLO FOR REASONS 
1.4 (B) AND (D) 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.  (U) Lithuania is mobilizing a full court press to promote 
Ukraine's integration into transatlantic and European 
institutions.  Building upon the relationship that President 
Valdas Adamkus forged by mediating (with Poland's 
Kwasniewski) Ukraine's post-election crisis, Lithuania's 
Defense Minister visited Kiev May 10-12 and announced new 
areas of cooperation and offers of technical assistance. 
Lithuanian leadership will continue to prioritize the 
political and economic transformation in Ukraine as part of a 
strategy for establishing and ensuring security in a 
difficult neighborhood.  End Summary. 
 
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DEFENSE MINISTER FINDS ENTHUSIASM MIXED WITH CAUTION 
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2.  (U) Lithuania's Minister of Defense Gediminas Kirkilas 
and Ukrainian Defense Minister Anatoliy Grytsenko signed an 
MOU declaring their governments' intention to form a joint 
Kosovo peacekeeping battalion with Poland (LITPOLUKRBAT). 
Alvydas Kunigelis, the MOD's Acting Director of International 
Relations, and Dr. Janina Sleivyte of the MOD's 2nd 
International Cooperation Division accompanied Kirkilas to 
Kiev and provided a readout of the trip.  According to 
Kunigelis, the visit achieved its modest purpose of 
establishing a springboard for future cooperation.  Kunigelis 
and Sleivyte said that Lithuania has recent and relevant 
experience to share in conducting NATO public outreach 
campaigns.  They also told us that the GOL is willing to 
offer Ukraine advice and assistance in building 
administrative capacity and developing resource management 
systems. 
 
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JOINT ASSEMBLY 
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3.  (U) The Speakers of Parliament from Lithuania, Poland, 
and Ukraine jointly announced on May 13 the establishment of 
a tripartite parliamentary assembly.  Through this 
initiative, Lithuania and Poland will offer Ukrainian 
parliamentarians assistance and guidance on harmonizing their 
laws with the European Union's acquis communautaire. 
Lithuania's Mindaugas Kacerauskis, Head of the MFA's Belarus, 
Moldova, and Ukraine Division, told us that the Assembly will 
also focus on regional goals, including promoting democracy 
in Belarus.  The Assembly's first meeting will take place in 
late June 2005. 
 
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VILNIUS POINTS THE WAY TO BRUSSELS 
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4.  (U) Kacerauskis told us that the GOL plans to sustain the 
pace of high-profile meetings with its Ukrainian counterparts 
over the next six months.  A broad range of Lithuanian 
institutions are ready to provide technical assistance to 
Ukraine on integration into European institutions.  The GOL 
will push to include Ukraine in the NATO Defense Ministers' 
conference in Vilnius in October. 
 
5.  (C) Kacerauskis remarked that the GOU is particularly 
eager to engage with the GOL on issues of defense 
restructuring.  He noted less enthusiasm regarding GOL offers 
of assistance with domestic reform but hoped more interest in 
such cooperation will follow Yushchenko's transfusion of new 
blood into the GOU.  Kacerauskis voiced concern over Russian 
intentions in Ukraine and opined that the Kremlin will try to 
"regain what it has lost" in next year's parliamentary 
elections.  To thwart that effort, he said, the EU should 
provide Ukrainians a tangible benefit, such as facilitated 
travel to EU countries, as proof that Ukraine's turn to the 
west was a smart move. 
 
6.  (C) COMMENT: Lithuania continues to demonstrate its 
conviction that regional security depends on developing 
democratic initiatives in the nations on the EU's borders. 
The stream of high-level visits and offers of assistance 
reflect the priority Lithuania attaches to ensuring Ukraine's 
tilt toward the West.  Lithuania will likely advocate an 
early offer of a NATO Membership Action Plan and will press 
the EU to take bold steps to nurture the euro-integration 
aspirations of the Ukrainian people. 
Mull