MACEDONIA: GLASS HALF FULL -- FORGING AHEAD ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 SKOPJE 000296

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/SCE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/18/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV MK
SUBJECT: MACEDONIA: GLASS HALF FULL -- FORGING AHEAD ON
POLITICAL DIALOGUE

REF: SKOPJE 283 AND PREVIOIUS

Classified By: P/E CHIEF SHUBLER, REASONS 1.4 (B) & (D).

SUMMARY.


1. (C) Following high-level leadership discussions April 13
and 16, PM Gruevski and eAlbanian opposition DUI leader
Ahmeti reached a compromise on a key DUI demand to
reconstitute the Parliamentary Inter-ethnic Relations
Committee. They did not reach agreement on a list of laws
that would require Badinter (double majority) voting, but
agreed to continue discussions on that issue at the
leadership level the week of April 23. Both sides agreed to
form separate Working Groups, one on a law on use of
languages, and one to resolve the issue of social and
financial support for eAlbanian victims of the 2001 conflict.
With the government having demonstrated a willingness to
compromise on key issues so far, the burden now lies with
Ahmeti and his DUI colleagues to match that flexibility if
they wish to enjoy continued US and EUSR support for the
political dialogue process. End summary.

DESPITE INITIAL IMPASSE.....


2. (U) With both government and opposition eAlbanian DUI
negotiating teams having reached agreement on 39 of 127
Badinter (double majority) laws proposed by DUI (reftel),PM
Gruevski and his VMRO-DPMNE team met with DUI President Ali
Ahmeti and his team April 13 to try to conclude discussions
on the list and to move forward on discussions of the
reconstitution of the parliamentary Inter-ethnic Relations
Committee (IEC). US Embassy and EUSR representatives
observed the negotiations.


3. (SBU) Ahmeti agreed at the outset that there had been
progress on the list of Badinter laws. He cautioned,
however, that he would not agree to close either that issue
or the IEC matter until he obtained agreement on the way
forward on draft laws on the use of language law, and on NLA
(National Liberation Army -- guerrilla insurgents in the 2001
conflict) veterans benefits. PM Gruevski said the government
was willing to present some options for reconstituting the
IEC, and would be willing to review a draft language law once
DUI presented one. He ruled out a law on NLA veterans, but
suggested a compromise package of benefits for those
eAlbanian veterans and their families. Ahmeti was insistent
on achieving agreement on all four issues before he would
agree to close out any single one of them.


4. (C) Ahmeti also pressed Gruevski for an update on progress
in the investigation into the shooting death of a close DUI
associate, Isa Lika, in 2006, which DUI leaders suspect was a
politically motivated murder. Minister of Interior
Jankuloska told Ahmeti that she had assigned the MOI's best
criminal investigator to the case, and that the original team
looking into the matter had been replaced with a mixed
eMacedonian-eAlbanian team that was reviewing the initial
investigation and trying to uncover new evidence. The Prime
Minister offered to let DUI assign its own criminal
investigator to join the MOI team to monitor the case.
Ahmeti did not respond to the offer.


5. (C) Gruevski made a plea for DUI's return to the
Parliament, where he said the government and opposition
needed to work together to continue legislative reforms
necessary for NATO and EU membership. He pledged to continue
implementation of the Framework Agreement and to push ahead
on passing the Law on the Public Prosecutor, a NATO-related
priority law. Ahmeti said DUI would not return to Parliament
absent agreement on the four issues he had outlined. With
the meeting at an impasse after nearly three hours of
discussion, the government and DUI leaders agreed to
reconvene on April 16.

....LEADERSHIP MEETINGS PRODUCE SIGNIFICANT COMPROMISE ON KEY
AGENDA ITEM


6. (C) The Ambassador called Ahmeti the morning of April 16
to press him for greater willingness to compromise on the
Badinter list and IEC issue, and to urge him to then return
to Parliament to continue work on the language law and NLA

SKOPJE 00000296 002 OF 003


matter. She said the time was ripe to seize the results
already achieved and to prepare to discuss outstanding issues
in Parliament. She also advised Ahmeti not to press for an
NLA law, which was politically untenable for the government,
but to consider a compromise approach that would provide the
victims of the 2001 conflict with compensatory benefits.
Ahmeti said he thought PM Gruevski would demonstrate goodwill
at the meeting scheduled for later the same day, but insisted
he could not return to Parliament without a solution on all
four issues.


7. (C) Both PM Gruevski and Ahmeti and their teams reconvened
later that day for a five-hour meeting in which they
continued discussion on the Badinter laws but did not reach
compromise on a final list. Gruevski offered a compromise
package of an additional seven Badinter laws, which DUI
rejected as inadequate. Instead, Ahmeti asked for Badinter
voting for an additional three laws (police law, law on
regional economic development, and a law on referendums)
which the government had rejected earlier. Gruevski said he
would not reopen discussion on those three laws, and the
groups adjourned for consultations.


8. (C) Returning to the negotiating table, Gruevski proposed
reconstituting the IEC (a key DUI demand) by having the
government cede one of its seats on the committee to give the
opposition a 10-9 majority. That majority would,
theoretically, allow the opposition to decide in favor of or
against Badinter voting on future draft laws and amendments.
Thanking the government for demonstrating goodwill on the
issue, Ahmeti accepted the offer but insisted that it be
codified in a legislative amendment. Gruevski agreed. He
said the government could amend the Electoral Code to require
MPs to declare their ethnicity before they were elected to
serve on the IEC, a proposal DUI accepted.

WORKING GROUPS FOR LANGUAGE LAW AND VICTIMS OF CONFLICT


9. (C) DUI VP Musa Xhaferi returned to discussion of a law on
NLA veterans that would provide them with benefits equal to
those received by eMacedonian troops and police who had been
involved in the 2001 inter-ethnic conflict. Gruevski
responded that an NLA law was politically impossible for him
to accept, given the fierce reaction that would provoke in
the eMacedonian public. Instead, he offered a package to
resolve the problem of the war invalids. He proposed
employing, in the state administration, 2001 conflict
invalids from a list that DUI would provide. Those who could
not work, but who qualified for benefits, would receive
financial assistance. In exchange, Gruevski asked for DUI to
pledge that it would not engage in triumphalism or public
comment on the agreement.


10. (SBU) Concluding the meeting, the two sides agreed to
continue discussions on the Badinter laws list at the
leadership level. They agreed on the recomposition of the
IEC, and on amending the Electoral Code to ensure MPs were
properly selected for the Committee in the future, a key DUI
demand. They also agreed to establish a Working Group on the
language law issue (to begin work on April 19) and a separate
Working Group on the victims of conflict compensation matter.


COMMENT: A GLASS HALF FULL


11. (C) Despite the lack of significant progress on the
Badinter list, the government's compromise proposal on the
IEC, and DUI's acceptance of that proposal, mark a
significant step forward in the political dialogue process.
The agreement on the Working Groups for the language and NLA
issues also is a positive development, although we expect
discussions in both groups will be extended and contentious.
The main obstacle to further progress that could lead DUI to
return to Parliament appears to be, at this juncture,
Ahmeti's insistence on considering his opening positions on
the issues under discussion as DUI's compromise positions.
While the government has shown some flexibility, albeit under
strong US-EU pressure, DUI has failed to budge despite
similarly intense, coordinated pressure. We will tell Ahmeti
in the days to come that he must demonstrate much greater
willingness to compromise if he expects continued USG and EU
support in this process.

SKOPJE 00000296 003 OF 003


MILOVANOVIC