VZCZCXRO2818
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHRA #0193 0711549
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 121549Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY RIGA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3861
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS RIGA 000193 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PBTS PGOV RS LG
SUBJECT: Latvian cabinet authorizes signing of border treaty; still 
waiting on Moscow 
 
Ref: Riga 100 and previous 
 
¶1. On March 6, the Latvian cabinet granted PM Aigars Kalvitis the 
authority to sign the border treaty with Russia, pursuant to 
legislation adopted by the parliament in February (reftel). In its 
decision, the cabinet made reference to "respecting the OSCE 
principle of not changing accepted borders" and withdrew the 
unilateral declaration from 2005 that had scuttled earlier plans to 
sign the treaty. 
 
¶2. The GOL has communicated to the Russian Federation that it has 
completed all its internal processes needed before signing (and 
removed the 2005 roadblock) and looks forward to an early signing, 
with the possible participation of the two presidents.  The Latvian 
press is reporting that the signing will occur on March 27, although 
GOL officials stress that no official response has yet been received 
from Moscow.  FM Lavrov has publicly acknowledged that the Latvians 
have proposed a signing in late-March.  The Latvians hope to send an 
advance team to Moscow the week of March 19 to finalize arrangements 
for signing.  The Russian Embassy in Riga has provided preliminary 
approval of those dates. 
 
Antweiler