VZCZCXRO6995
RR RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHCH #1400/01 3311543
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 271543Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY CHISINAU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5953
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP 0031

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CHISINAU 001400 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/27/2017 
TAGS: PREL PBTS OSCE PGOV MD
SUBJECT: LITSKAI: HEADING TO MADRID 
 
 
CHISINAU 00001400  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Michael D. Kirby for reasons 1.4(b) and (d) 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY:  Transnistrian "Foreign Minister" Litskai 
intends to travel to Madrid for consultations on the 
sidelines of the OSCE Ministerial.  In a November 23 meeting, 
Litskai told Ambassador Kirby he expected the Finns would 
provide much better leadership for OSCE than the Spanish had. 
 While the Transnistrian (TN) leadership will not ask 
directly for aid, Litskai expressed interest in seeing some 
20 percent of the total Millennium Challenge Corporation 
(MCC) compact program channeled to their needs.  Litskai was 
open to assistance in the health and agricultural sectors, 
but suggested the USG work through raion-level local 
leadership.  Litskai said he had acted as a "dove," taking 
political risks to meet with GOM Minister for Reintegration 
Sova and the 5 plus 2 members in Odessa, but then had been 
sabotaged by recent GOM actions.  We've changed places with 
Moldova, he suggested, now they are the ones not ready for 
peace.  End Summary. 
 
Litskai Plans to Travel to Madrid 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (C)  Litskai told the Ambassador that he planned to travel 
to the upcoming OSCE Ministerial in Madrid.  It will be an 
opportunity for informal exchanges, he said, to talk to 
everyone there.  He expressed his frustration with the 
failures of Spanish leadership, but was confident the Finns 
would work more actively.  The Finns, he said, have a good 
group of experts who have studied the Transnistrian problem 
and worked on it for years.  (Comment: Litskai's travel plans 
suggest that he already received his Spanish visa during his 
recent trip to Moscow.  EU Ambassadors in Chisinau tell us 
they are unaware of Spanish consultations with other EU 
countries before granting the visa to Litskai and effectively 
overriding the EU's visa ban.  End Comment.) 
 
Give 20 Percent of MCC Compact to Transnistria 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶3. (C) Litskai suggested that the USG should use the 
"percentage of population" rule to allocate 20 percent of any 
future MCC Compact program to Transnistria.  Litskai 
expressed some concerns that the GOM would steal too high a 
percentage of the money.  The Ambassador explained that the 
USG had made efforts to design a program that would not allow 
this slippage, and suggested that Litskai meet directly with 
MCC officials during their next visit to Moldova.  At the 
same time, the Ambassador made no promise either of MCC 
assistance or of a prearranged division of any possible 
assistance.  The "foreign minister" agreed to a meeting in 
Tiraspol to learn more about the MCC Compact program and how 
it worked.  He noted that on mutually-profitable issues, such 
as gas problems and banking, Tiraspol and Chisinau 
authorities had already proven themselves capable of working 
together. 
 
¶4. (C) Litskai noted that it was a peculiarity of 
Transnistrian political culture that the authorities would 
maintain that they did not need any help.  Let our fields 
wither away, he joked, let our submarine drown, and the 
leadership would still not acknowledge needing assistance. 
He compared this attitude to right-bank authorities, begging 
with their outstretched hand.  Despite their political 
culture, Litskai acknowledged a broad need for economic 
assistance in general and for agricultural aid in particular. 
 In the wake of last summer's drought, Transnistria would 
definitely need seeds, Litskai thought.  As each district 
(raion) had different agricultural needs, Litskai suggested 
that the best approach was to coordinate directly with the 
raion administration.  Though the Ambassador asked twice 
about specific districts that were hardest hit, Litskai did 
not name a specific district. 
 
Recent GOM Decree Strengthens the Hawks 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (C) Litskai noted he had taken a political risk in 
attending the informal 5 plus 2 meeting in Odessa.  Later, 
the Transnistrians had agreed to participate in a November 13 
Madrid meeting while Sova, according to Litskai, subsequently 
refused.  Litskai said that now the Transnistrians had 
changed places with the Chisinau authorities, and had become 
more cooperative, while the GOM was blocking the process. 
Litskai cited as an example the recent GOM creation of seven 
working groups.  He claimed that TN had responded that it was 
ready to engage, but wanted to see concrete projects. 
Instead, he complained, the GOM had nothing concrete to offer 
and President Voronin said he needed until mid-December. 
Litskai claimed that this proved that the GOM was not ready 
for peace. 
 
 
CHISINAU 00001400  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶6. (C) Litskai said that the GOM's recent license plate 
decree (which would require re-registration on the right bank 
of TN-registered vehicles) had strengthened the hawks in the 
TN government, who were calling for a full-scale retaliation. 
 Litskai considered himself to be among the Tiraspol doves. 
The Ambassador urged Litskai that TN not undertake any hasty 
retaliation, since the decree was likely to be modified. 
Litskai suggested that the public release of this ill-timed 
decree showed that Voronin does not control the situation. 
The decree also hit Sova, Litskai noted, exposing both 
negotiators to attacks by their respective hawks. 
 
¶7. (C) The Ambassador reminded Litskai of the unhelpful 
signals that the Transnistrian side had sent recently.  While 
in Abkhazia, Litskai had made comments that were not well 
received in Chisinau.  The hawks in Chisinau were happy to 
hear those statements.  Now, said the Ambassador, those who 
want to move forward had to control the extremists.  Litskai 
responded that the Sukhumi statements were mostly posturing 
to coordinate a single approach on how to react following any 
possible unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo. 
 
Comment: 
------- 
 
¶8. (C) The mercurial Litskai was once again in a cooperative 
and constructive mode, ready to engage in practical 
discussions on MCC and on moving forward with 5 plus 2.  For 
now, Litskai appears to be ready to talk.  However, it is not 
clear that he is ready ) or empowered ) to negotiate.  In 
any case, his departure for the OSCE Ministerial in Madrid is 
unhelpful.  The Spanish apparently violated the EU ban on 
visas for Transnistrian leaders by granting Litskai a visa 
without consulting other partners.  The news of Litskai's 
plans to go to Madrid has angered the Moldovans.  They have 
threatened to walk out, but the Ambassador encouraged Sova 
(during a November 27 meeting) and Minister of Foreign 
Affairs and European Integration Stratan (via a chat with DFM 
Ostalep also on November 27) to maintain diplomatic composure 
so that the Moldovan side could take the moral high ground 
and appear ready for talks. 
KIRBY