MACEDONIA: AMBASSADOR'S MEETING WITH THE PRIME

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 SKOPJE 000162

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/23/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL MK
SUBJECT: MACEDONIA: AMBASSADOR'S MEETING WITH THE PRIME
MINISTER

REF: A. SKOPJE 123


B. SKOPJE 120

Classified By: POLOFF NEISULER FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D)

SUMMARY



1. (C) During a meeting with Prime Minister Gruevski on
February 21, the Ambassador raised U.S. concerns regarding
political dialogue, education issues, and the rule of law in
Macedonia (reftels). Pledging U.S. support for Macedonia's
NATO membership aspirations, the Ambassador stressed that
there is still much work to be done, especially in enhancing
constructive political dialogue. The Prime Minister
acknowledged the gravity of Macedonia's current political
challenges and admitted that, if left unresolved, they could
lead to the country's "losing NATO." End of Summary.


Political Dialogue and Framework Agreement Implementation
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2. (C) During a February 21 meeting with PM Gruevski, the
Ambassador noted the positive signal sent by his party's
participation in ongoing National Democratic
Institute-sponsored discussions among working-level party
experts on changes to the parliamentary rule book. Expressing
her regret at the boycott of those discussions by the main
eAlbanian opposition party DUI, the Ambassador assessed as
positive DUI's desire to at least remain informed about the
proceedings. Gruevski assured the Ambassador that his party
has "no problem" with political dialogue, but insisted DUI's
sole objective was to accomplish its agenda, rather than
working constructively with the government (GOM). He
commented, in a tone showing he was scandalized at the
temerity of DUI, that DUI wants "not dialogue but
concessions."


3. (C) The Ambassador suggested that the GOM welcome DUI's
desire for concessions by asking for reciprocal concessions
as part of the democratic process. She stressed that mutual
give and take --concessions in fact-- are the essence of
political life and of the relations NATO and the EU expect in
Macedonia. Both agreed that pre-conditions for talks were
unacceptable, while a detailed agenda on priorities might be
helpful in focusing eventual discussions. In that light,
Gruevski mentioned a recent message he had sent through EU
Special Representative Fouere to DUI president Ahmeti. He
proposed to compile a list of laws that would need a Badinter
(qualified) parliamentary majority to pass. If DUI accepted
the proposal, Gruevski believed that would guarantee more
efficient work in the Parliament in the future and would
negate DUI's request to re-compose the parliamentary Inter
Ethnic Committee.


4. (C) The Ambassador also discussed with Gruevski
implementation of the Ohrid Framework Agreement (FWA) in
relation to a recent government reshuffle. While the
Ambassador was concerned about the inexperience of the
newly-appointed Minister for FWA Implementation, Gruevski was
confident that the new Minister would build upon the efforts
of his predecessor and move the implementation process
forward. As evidence of increased GOM attention to FWA
implementation, the Prime Minister cited his plan to hire 250
minority public servants, distributed among the various
ministries, and an additional 150 to work specifically on
EU-related issues. The Ambassador cautioned the GOM against
thinking in terms of minority hiring without reference to
qualifications or need for the jobs, essentially in order to
show improved minority employment statistics. Equitable
representation means instead putting ethnic minority members
in real jobs.


Education Issues: Nostrification and Religious Instruction
-------------- --------------



5. (SBU) The Ambassador pointed to the current burdensome
system of nostrification of foreign university degrees as a
barrier to trade and knowledge sharing, which encourages
brain drain. PM Gruevski agreed wholeheartedly that the
laborious nostrification procedure should be transformed into
a simple recognition process for foreign degrees. Although
he expected strong resistance on the part of professors at
Macedonia's state universities, Gruevski said he planned to

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address the issue by the beginning of summer. The Ambassador
pledged U.S. support for that process, and stressed that the
USG has spent over USD 8 million to educate Macedonians whose
American diplomas are not recognized by the current system.


6. (SBU) The Ambassador and PM Gruevski discussed the
proposal for a Law on Religious Instruction in Schools in the
context of Macedonia's NATO priorities. The PM said the draft
law allows parents to choose whether their children will
study world religions or the religious doctrine of their own
faith, taught by priests and other religious leaders. The
Ambassador highlighted the law's divisiveness, the value of
instruction by teachers according to a curriculum, and urged
the GOM to take more time to look at other options for
including general religious studies in the school curriculum.
She especially highlighted that this law is not a priority
for NATO and the EU, and that its controversial nature could
further delay consideration of true priority legislation.
Gruevski said that he might delay action on the religious
instruction law until later in the year.


Rule of Law: TIP, ICTY, Religious Freedom
--------------



7. (SBU) The Ambassador noted positive developments over the
past few months in the GOM's fight against
trafficking-in-persons (ref A). The Prime Minister confirmed
that combating TIP is one of his government's priorities. He
stressed that his Cabinet has tasked the Ministry of Interior
(MOI) and the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) with the
implementation of various anti-TIP measures, including a
significant revision of the Criminal Code that should be
complete by the end of May. On the MOI side, Gruevski
mentioned that specific anti-TIP operations were in the
preparation phase, suggesting imminent anti-TIP operations
could be expected in the near future.


8. (C) Following the Ambassador's account of the USG's latest
efforts to persuade the Hague Tribunal to delay the return to
Macedonian jurisdiction of four unindicted ICTY cases (ref
B),the PM repeated his frequent remark that his biggest
challenge would be how to explain such a delay to the
eMacedonian public. He predicted that, if the four cases (all
of them involving allegations against eAlbanians) were
delayed, there could be violent rallies during the trials of
eMacedonian defendants already in The Hague and awaiting a
trial date. The Ambassador pointed out that the premature
return of the cases could cause even more problems, since the
Macedonian judicial system is not ready to handle them and if
they are in Macedonian jurisdiction there will be even
greater political pressures to act on the cases quickly,
whether this is feasible or not. She assured Gruevski of
international community (IC) support for the GOM, both in
terms of training, and in weathering the public's reaction to
a delay based on the fact that the judiciary, prosecution and
investigation services are not at all ready for ICTY cases.
She added that any uncertainty about the state of the legal
system was resolved by the extraordinary acquittal of Agim
Krasniqi days earlier.


9. (SBU) The Ambassador expressed her appreciation for PM
Gruevski's and FM Milososki's efforts in revising the draft
Law on Religious Communities and Groups. She said that post
was currently reviewing the draft law and would share its
comments with OSCE.


Brussels Readout
--------------



10. (C) On his initiative, PM Gruevski gave the Ambassador a
briefing on his recent visit to Brussels. His bleak
assessment ("we don't have NATO") contrasted starkly with
boastful comments in the media after the trip. Gruevski did
not hide his frustration with the IC's perceived "lack of
understanding of and interest in" his country and all the
positive things that he said had been accomplished by the
government. Fishing for a reaction, he speculated that "the
EU and NATO are simply trying to find a reason not/not to
give Macedonia a date for negotiations." The Ambassador told
him there simply was no truth to that rumor, and urged
Gruevski to focus on accomplishing NATO priorities. She added
that the reality is Macedonia seeks admission to NATO, hence
it must prove itself. It is not NATO or member states that
have to prove their detailed knowledge of developments in

SKOPJE 00000162 003 OF 003


Macedonia. What matters is results.


COMMENT



11. (C) Still soaring in public opinion polls at home,
Gruevski clearly is frustrated by the tough messages he has
heard from the EU and NATO in recent weeks regarding a lack
of political dialogue and the slow pace of reforms; his
natural tendency is to cast about for scapegoats, even if
those turn out to be the bearers of the criticial messages.
Unlike past discussions with us, however, when he seemed to
shrug off criticism and trumpet his oft-repeated
achievements, he appeared more thoughtful and open to
constructive engagement this time. We are seeing some
positive signs of progress, especially on the anti-TIP front,
and will continue to apply "soft pressure" at all levels of
the GOM to get the political dialogue process and FWA
implementation rolling again. In the meantime, it is
essential that our message to the GOM continues to be that
NATO membership is achieveable and that we want Macedonia to
succeed. But time is short and there is much to do before
Macedonia is ready to assume the responsiblities of
membership. Implementation of the FWA, reforms especially in
the judicial arena, and achievement of meaningful political
dialogue remain essential.
MILOVANOVIC