10 July 2003 06:20
U.S. decision not to harm relations
Even though the Baltic states have not signed an agreement with the United States on nonextradition of U.S. citizens
to the Inter-national Criminal Court and thus are among the some 50 countries that will have its U.S. military aid cut,
relations with America will not suffer, the states' foreign ministries stated last week. "The U.S.A. is our
ally, we are their ally, and nothing will change," said Latvian Foreign Ministry spokesman Rets Plesums.
Latvia's neighbors Estonia and Lithuania echoed this opinion in their own statements. Starting July 1, the United
States suspended military assistance to almost 50 nations that had not signed the exemption agreements, including the
three Baltic states. That same day, the President George W. Bush issued waivers for 22 countries that would not be
affected by the suspension of military aid, but the Baltics, which are expected to join NATO next year, were not among
them. The Bush administration, which fears the ICC will be used to prosecute Americans, especially military personnel
who have participated in recent military conflicts, was simply acting to protect its troops, the White House spokesman
Ari Fleischer was quoted as saying by the Associated Press. For this reason the United States is pursuing immunity
agreements from its allies. The Baltic states, however, said they do not plan to sign the bilateral immunity agreements
with the U.S. and thus will be affected by the decision to cut military aid. "This decision was not unexpected for
us," Estonian Prime Minister Juhan Parts was quoted as saying by the daily Postimees . "Stopping military aid
to Estonia has been a factor in the talks that have lasted for more than a year, which we have had to consider all
along. As a founding member of the International Criminal Court, however, we do not consider it possible to sign a
bilateral agreement with the U.S.A. under such conditions," Parts said. Similarly, Latvia does not intend to sign
the agreement and is keeping with the common position of the European Union on the matter, said Foreign Ministry
spokesman Plesums. The EU supports the ICC, and has encouraged its candidate countries to resist pressure to sign the
U.S. immunity agreements. The Baltic states are slated to join the EU in May next year. Latvian Prime Minister Einars
Repse told the Baltic News Service that the issue of immunity and the ICC should be solved by U.S. and EU leaders.
"It will not be the small Latvia that will solve a legal issue of two parts of the world," Repse said. For its
part, Lithuania has "no plans at all" to sign the agreement, Lithuanian Defense Minister Linas Linkevicius
told The Baltic Times. Although "scrupulous work of financiers" still needs to be carried out to determine the
exact amount of frozen military-related funds, it is clear at this point that from the funds allocated in the fiscal
year of 2003, Latvia will not have access to $2.75 million, said Latvian Defense Ministry spokesman Airis Rikveilis.
This amount had previously been granted to Latvia by Congress as additional financing within the foreign military
assistance program. However, the U.S. decision to freeze funds will not affect programs commenced before the July 1
deadline, and military aid to the Baltics will be restored once the three countries become full-fledged members of NATO,
according to a letter the Latvian Foreign Affairs Minister Sandra Kalniete received from U.S. Secretary of State Colin
Powell. Rikveilis said the largest cooperation agreements between Latvia and the United States had already been
concluded before July 1, and that the planned realization of projects would probably not suffer. "The process will
not be too painful," Rikveilis said. Lithuania was of similar opinion. "Of course, I can't say this is
good news. However, one good thing is that the aid for 2003 has already been received by us, so we will not lose one
dollar of this aid this year," said Linkevicius. "We don't consider this decision as a decision against
Lithuania specifically. What does concern us is the 'politicization' of this process, which we hope will not
continue," he added. Last year, the U.S. granted $7.2 million in military aid to Latvia within two programs - the
Foreign Military Financing and International Military Education and Training program. "It is very significant
assistance, mostly equipment of various kinds," said Rikveilis, adding that the United States is one of
Latvia's most significant cooperation partners. Plesums emphasized that the dialogue between Latvia and the U.S.
would continue, that a solution would be sought and that nothing will change in the two countries' bilateral
relations. In his interview to Postimees, Parts expressed the same opinion. "Nothing of substance will change in
our relations with the U.S.A.," he said. Still, the crux of the debate will remain. The White House on July 1 said
to the ICC was an entity that the United States will not recognize. "There should be no misunderstanding that the
issue of protecting U.S. persons from the International Criminal Court will be a significant and pressing matter in our
relations with every state," Fleischer said on July 1. Steven Paulikas in Vilnius and Melanie O'Connell in
Tallinn contributed to this report.
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