MACEDONIA: AMBASSADOR PRESSES DUI'S AHMETI TO MOVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SKOPJE 000321 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/SCE E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/24/2017 TAGS: PGOV MK SUBJECT: MACEDONIA: AMBASSADOR PRESSES DUI'S AHMETI TO MOVE TO POLITICAL DIALOGUE ENDGAME REF: A. SKOPJE 296 ¶B. SKOPJE 283 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: P/E CHIEF SHUBLER, REASONS 1.4 (B) & (D). SUMMARY. ¶1. (C) During an April 20 meeting at the Embassy, the Ambassador pressed DUI (eAlbanian opposition) leader Ahmeti to demonstrate greater flexibility in hammering out a compromise with the government on key DUI concerns that would end that party's parliamentary boycott. She warned Ahmeti that, if he held out for government compromises on all priority DUI issues under discussion, he risked losing gains made to date. Ahmeti pushed back, placing the blame for the slow pace of the political dialogue process squarely on PM Gruevski. We will continue to hammer home a consistent message to Ahmeti in the coming week -- that he risks losing the gains he has made if he holds out for the full package of DUI demands. Note: In a meeting with EUR Rosemary DiCarlo April 23 (details septel),Ahmeti was slightly more forward leaning on his requirements for returning to Parliament. We are pursing this approach with the government and DUI. End summary. PRESSING AHMETI FOR FLEXIBILITY IN TALKS, RETURN TO PARLIAMENT ¶2. (SBU) The Ambassador met with eAlbanian opposition DUI President Ahmeti April 20 to urge greater flexibility in reaching compromise on key issues in the ongoing political dialogue process (reftels),and to then move discussions on remaining issues into the Parliament. She noted that an April 19 GOM-DUI working group discussion on a draft language law had gone well, and added that those discussions eventually should move to the Parliament. The other three key DUI issues )- finalizing a list of laws requiring a Badinter (double majority) vote, recomposition of the parliamentary Inter-ethnic Committee (IEC),and a draft law to provide social benefits to veterans of the NLA (the armed insurgent group during the 2001 conflict) -- could be finished quickly if there was sufficient political will on both sides. Failure to resolve those issues soon could return the process to a less constructive phase. It was important to sustain the positive momentum that had characterized recent talks. ¶3. (SBU) The Ambassador asked Ahmeti how he thought the two sides could move toward resolution of the remaining issues and an end to DUI's boycott of the Parliament. She noted that the U.S. and EU would be willing to "informally witness" an agreement between the GOM and DUI on the government's offer of a social support package for NLA veterans and their families (ref A). She added that we did not believe resolution of the NLA issue was required for Framework Agreement (FWA) implementation. Rather, at issue was the question of how to humanely treat victims of the conflict. ¶4. (SBU) Ahmeti contended that the NLA issue was contained in an annex to the FWA that highlighted the need to resocialize the veterans. That would help reconciliation in Macedonia. "Why, then, would Gruevski reject such a solution?" he asked. The victims of the 2001 conflict wanted an NLA veterans law, Ahmeti asserted. SEIZE THE MOMENT OR RISK LOSING GAINS ALREADY MADE ¶5. (C) The Ambassador said insistence on an NLA law would result in a deadlock, which could mean no solution for the veterans and their families. She pointed out that the goal of resocializing the former fighters and supporting their families could be achieved through the social benefits package Gruevski had offered. Reconciliation would not be helped by division between DUI and the government on this issue, nor would it be helped by DUI,s continuing boycott. A political compromise on the issue would help reduce tensions and foster reconciliation. The Ambassador pointed out that room for concessions was narrowing; if DUI persisted in pressing for more concessions it could well end up with fewer or no compromise solutions, not more. AHMETI: PM GRUEVSKI SLOWS DIALOGUE TEMPO SKOPJE 00000321 002 OF 002 ¶6. (C) Ahmeti agreed that the tempo of the political dialogue had to speed up. He put the onus on Gruevski, however, saying that the Prime Minister needed to &show more courage and move to solutions.8 He claimed he had made a significant concession by taking off the table the issue of Badinter voting to form government coalitions (ref B); the Badinter list issue was Gruevski's problem, not his, so the Prime Minister had to be more flexible in resolving it. Ahmeti added that if Gruevski could convince him that the NLA veterans law was not necessary, he would retreat from his insistence on the need for one. ¶7. (C) The Ambassador pointed out that the government was moving ahead with implementation of the 2001 Framework Agreement, albeit not in the form and manner preferred by DUI. DUI,s return to Parliament would help keep the pressure on the government to accelerate and deepen FWA implementation. If DUI showed greater flexibility and helped close the remaining issues, the U.S. and EU would publicly welcome that development. ¶8. (C) Ahmeti said DUI did not want to return to Parliament only to find itself compelled to leave again if the government failed to follow through on commitments made during the dialogue process. He insisted that he would want a U.S. guarantee for any deal reached. The Ambassador replied that he needed to show he could reach agreement with Gruevski, with both the U.S. and EU as observers; in doing so, confidence and trust between both sides would grow. COMMENT ¶9. (C) Ahmeti's intransigence reflects his "take no prisoners" approach to negotiating. Having become accustomed to securing the majority of DUI's demands during negotiating battles with his former government coalition partners SDSM (Social Democrats) from 2002-2006, Ahmeti will be slow to compromise until he is clearly convinced the dialogue process has reached an impasse and further gains are not possible. To help him arrive at that conclusion, we will continue to hammer home a consistent message that DUI risks losing current gains if it continues to insist on a maximalist outcome in the ongoing talks. MILOVANOVIC