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P 011359Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY VILNIUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0827
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 VILNIUS 001072 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELTN PREL LH LG EUN RS BO
SUBJECT: STRANDED TRUCKERS PONDER EU "OPEN MARKET" 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  The long lines of trucks that began appearing 
November 20 at all four border crossing points where commercial 
traffic can enter Latvia from Lithuania have now largely 
disappeared, but the episode has affected Lithuanian-Latvian 
relations.  Lithuania formally complained to the European Commission 
about the problem on November 27.  According to Lithuanian sources, 
Latvian officials and others have offered a wide variety of 
explanations for the delays, ranging from poor weather and 
infrastructure problems to security concerns stemming from the 
November 28-29 NATO Summit in Riga.  Other commentators blamed 
Russia and the interests of Latvian commercial carriers.  While the 
immediate problem now appears to have subsided, this episode raises 
troubling questions about the Baltics' ability to constructively 
discuss and resolve a seemingly simple problem.  End summary. 
 
Delays, delays, and more delays 
------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) Commercial trucks can only enter Latvia from Lithuania at 
four border crossing points.  Starting November 20, Latvia's border 
guards began letting far fewer commercial trucks per hour enter than 
usual, causing backups that generated front-page headlines across 
Lithuania.  At one crossing, more than 400 trucks stood waiting to 
enter Latvia.  That crossing, which usually processes at least 20 
trucks per hour, was allowing no more than four trucks per hour 
enter, according to the Lithuanian border service's website.  The 
other crossings had lines ranging from 60 to 160 trucks.  Lithuania 
mobilized its armed services to provide hundreds of meals to 
stranded drivers, and other branches of the government scrambled to 
provide sanitation facilities. 
 
¶3. (U) One of Lithuania's most widely read (if often sensationalist) 
national dailies carried the headline "Economic War Begins" 
front-page, above-the-fold in describing the situation.  Some 
Lithuanians expressed their ire on Lithuania's most popular online 
websites, calling for boycotts of particular Latvian-made food, 
beverage, and perfume products. 
 
A wide range of explanations 
---------------------------- 
 
¶4. (U) Lithuanian media have given several explanations for the 
delays at the border: 
 
-- In a telephone interview for a televised news program, Latvian 
Interior Minister Ivars Godmanis said that the reduction in traffic 
was necessary to ensure safety on heavily congested roads, noting 
that some 1500 trucks were queuing inside Latvia, waiting to enter 
Russia. 
 
-- Other Latvian officials have claimed that heavy rains and poor 
road conditions, combined with delays for trucks at the 
Latvian/Russian border have contributed to the problem. 
 
-- Lithuania's press reported other Latvian sources saying that the 
restrictions were necessitated by the security concerns for the 
November 28-29 NATO Summit in Riga. 
 
-- Lithuania's Confederation of Industrialists told the press that 
Latvia was trying to support its own transport companies during the 
holiday season by making it difficult for cargo to travel overland 
from Lithuania (in some cases from Lithuanian ports) to Russia, thus 
encouraging companies to use Latvian ports and, therefore, Latvian 
transportation companies instead. 
 
-- Similarly, Lithuania's National Association of Road Carriers 
(LINAVA) told Lithuania's largest daily that many ships at Riga's 
port were waiting to offload their cargoes, risking added costs and 
penalties for Riga's port authority.  The Latvian Government, claims 
LINAVA, ordered its border service to restrict commercial traffic 
from Lithuania so that goods from the port could reach the Russian 
border more quickly. 
 
-- Another version (which we heard from our colleagues in Riga) 
attributed part of the problem to an increase of truck entry fees by 
Belarus, leading more truckers to divert through Latvia on their way 
to Russia than was previously the case. 
 
-- Other press reports suggest that the border blockage was a 
Russian-inspired scheme designed to encourage transport companies to 
send their goods via Belarus en route to Russia.  (Why or how this 
would benefit Russia, however, is unclear to us.)  An alternative 
Russia-inspired conspiracy theory is that Russia arranged the border 
delays to cause friction among NATO allies on the eve of the NATO 
Summit. 
 
¶5. (SBU) A high-ranking official in Lithuania's Ministry of Defense 
told us that MOD officials had been in touch with their Latvian 
counterparts, who assured them that the situation was "absolutely 
not related" to any NATO Summit-related security concerns.  An 
 
VILNIUS 00001072  002 OF 002 
 
 
Interior Ministry official told us that some of its officers have 
inspected the roads on the Latvian side of the border and found no 
damage or construction projects that could plausibly be contributing 
to the border delays.  She also said that Russia appeared to be 
letting in far more trucks (400 per hour) from Latvia than Latvia 
was allowing from Lithuania (less than 70 per hour). 
 
¶6. (SBU) A close advisor to President Adamkus with experience in 
Latvia told us that Lithuania was "astonished" by Riga's approach to 
this crisis.  The source said that the GOL, including Foreign 
Minister Vatiekunas, who served a tour as Ambassador in Riga, had 
worked its extensive contacts within Latvia and not gotten a 
straight answer back.  (We understand from our colleagues in Riga 
that Latvian officials have engaged more vigorously with Lithuanian 
officials on the issue now that the Summit is over.) 
 
¶7. (SBU) This source speculated that the main motivation for the 
border mess was pecuniary.  He explained that shipments to Russia 
via Latvia surged during the pre-Christmas season, and Latvian 
authorities may be inhibiting transit across the Lithuanian-Latvian 
border to ensure that Latvian transport companies move the lion's 
share of the goods.  He also thought that some Latvians were using 
the situation to dramatize the poor state of the Latvian road 
network in a ploy to win more EU funds for the transport sector. 
Finally, he shared the suspicion broached in the press about a 
Russian angle.  Claiming that Russian investment in Latvian 
transport companies was extensive, he hypothesized that the Russians 
used these companies to encourage Riga to block the southern border, 
thereby fouling the mood in the run-up to the Riga NATO summit. 
 
Lithuania complains to the EU 
----------------------------- 
 
¶8. (U) Lithuanian Transport Minister Algirdas Butkevicius sent a 
letter November 27 to the European Commission, stating that Latvia 
has restricted passage through the Lithuanian-Latvian border.  The 
minister asked the European Commission to look into possible 
violations of EU laws and to take appropriate action. 
 
Not over yet 
------------ 
 
¶9. (U) Although the lines have disappeared, we likely haven't heard 
the last of this episode.  LINAVA is busily calculating the damages 
to shipping companies and expects to seek restitution from Latvia. 
Their initial calculations suggest that these claims will amount to 
LTL 700 (USD 260) per truck per hour. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) We have no doubt that there's a Latvian side to this 
story.  The Lithuanians are also often quick to ascribe ulterior 
motives to Latvian behavior.  What is striking to us, however, is 
that the issue reached crisis proportions in the very week that the 
world's attention was on the Baltics.  It is troubling that the two 
countries proved unable to work this out without intervention from 
Brussels.  This does not bode well for their ability to work 
together on larger issues, like energy. 
 
CLOUD