US embassy cable - 05VILNIUS648

C O N F I D E N T I A L VILNIUS 000648 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS TO EUR/NB, EUR/PRA (MCASSAYRE) 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/20/2015 
TAGS: ETTC, PARM, LH, NP, HT18 
SUBJECT: LITHUANIAN MFA OPPOSES ARMS SALE TO NEPAL 
 
REF: A. SECSTATE 95775 
 
     B. VILNIUS 530 
 
Classified By: Political/Economic Officer Alexander Titolo for reasons 
1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
1.  (C) SUMMARY: Lithuania's MFA will oppose the approval of 
a license for JSC Manubaltas to export ammunition 
manufacturing equipment to the Kingdom of Nepal at the GOL's 
next inter-agency meeting on this issue.  The GOL had 
consulted with the USG on this sale, pursuant to its 
Wassenaar commitments (ref B).  We informed the MFA on May 24 
that the USG did not have any objection to the sale based on 
the information they made available to us (ref A).  Details 
provided to the GOL from other EU nations led to the MFA's 
determination that the sale would violate the EU's Code of 
Conduct on arms exports.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  (C) Donatas Vainalavicius, of the MFA's Arms Control, 
Non-proliferation and Disarmament Division, told us June 15 
that the MFA has concluded that the sale of ammunition 
manufacturing machinery would violate Criteria Two (human 
rights concerns) and Three (internal security concerns) of 
the EU's Code of Conduct on arms sales.  Vainalavicius said 
that the Governments of France and Germany recently informed 
the GOL that they had previously invoked the same criteria in 
denying export licenses for the Manubaltas's parent company, 
the French firm Manurhin Equipment S.A., to export this same 
equipment to Nepal.  (The French and German governments had 
not confirmed these denials to the GOL at the time the MFA 
initially approached us.)  He reiterated the MFA's 
apprehension that the application of a French manufacturer 
for an export license in Lithuania might indicate a shopping 
expedition in search of relaxed licensing procedures. 
 
3.  (C) Vainalavicius said the export control board still has 
not taken a final decision, and that other ministries could 
still present new information in favor of the sale at its 
as-yet-unscheduled next meeting. 
Mull