MACEDONIA: AMBASSADOR NULAND URGES PRESIDENT AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SKOPJE 000533

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/SCE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/04/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV NATO MK
SUBJECT: MACEDONIA: AMBASSADOR NULAND URGES PRESIDENT AND
PRIME MINISTER TO PRESS HOME NATO REFORMS

REF: SKOPJE 418

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

SUMMARY


1. (U) During separate meetings with President Crvenkovski
and PM Gruevski on the margins of the NATO EAPC Security
Forum in Ohrid June 29, Ambassador Nuland urged the GOM to
maintain steady progress toward meeting NATO standards in the
crucial months leading up to NATO's Bucharest Summit in April

2008. To win Allied consensus to invite Macedonia into the
Alliance, she said, more needed to be done to demonstrate the
maturity of the country's political institutions, to improve
relations with Greece and Bulgaria, and to launch diplomatic
efforts to persuade key NATO allies that Macedonia is headed
in the right direction. She also stressed that NATO would
judge aspirants individually; there would be no "package
approach" to membership.


2. (C) Both Crvenkovski and Gruevski cited recent progress on
the political front, with Crvenkovski pointing to a "broad
national consensus" in favor of NATO membership. Gruevski
pledged to implement the May 29 agreement with opposition DUI
(reftel),and to continue the GOM's focus on combating
corruption and trafficking in persons. Neither Crvenkovski
nor Gruevski thought a resolution of the name issue was
likely soon, but they agreed to pursue measures to
demonstrate "good neighborliness" toward Athens and to show
restraint in public comments on the name dispute. The
meeting with Gruevski helped boost momentum toward a
government-opposition consensus on judicial reforms, and
toward implementing the May 29 agreement. We will use
additional leverage, including FM Milososki's upcoming visit
to Washington, to sustain that momentum. End summary.

KEY MESSAGES -- SHOW POLITICAL MATURITY, GOOD NEIGHBORLY
RELATIONS, TELL YOUR STORY


3. (U) USNATO Ambassador Nuland, accompanied by Ambassador
Milovanovic, met separately with President Crvenkovski and
Prime Minister Gruevski on the margins of the NATO EAPC
Security Forum in Ohrid on June 29. PM Gruevski was
accompanied by FM Milososki, MOD Elenovski, and National NATO
Coordinator Ambassador Dimitrov.


4. (SBU) During both meetings, Ambassador Nuland underscored
the need for Macedonia to show quick and steady progress
toward meeting NATO standards. That included demonstrating
the maturity of the country's political institutions,
including full implementation of the May 29 agreement between
Gruevski's VMRO party and the opposition DUI party (reftel);
taking measures to foster good neighborly relations with
Greece and Bulgaria; and launching diplomatic efforts to
persuade key NATO allies that Macedonia is heading in the
right direction. She emphasized that there was little time
left for accomplishing these tasks, and said she would return
to the region with a USG interagency team in November to
assess aspirants' progress. She stressed that NATO would
judge aspirants individually before the 2008 summit; there
would be no "package approach" to offering membership.

BROAD CONSENSUS ON NATO MEMBERSHIP


5. (SBU) President Crvenkovski, noting that the successful
hosting of the EAPC Security Forum had demonstrated
Macedonia's organizational capacity, acknowledged that the
country had to demonstrate it could meet NATO standards in
the coming months. He pointed to the "broad consensus" at
the national level in support of NATO membership, and said
that an earlier lack of government-opposition communication
had been overcome. There was now "permanent communication"
with the opposition focused on reforms, including judicial
reforms. Decentralization would begin July 1, and the GOM
was trying to ensure a draft religious freedom law met Venice
Commission standards. The "working atmosphere" had improved
and the country was headed in a positive direction. If
Macedonia met NATO membership criteria, the President hoped
the country could count on USG support in membership
deliberations in Brussels. Ambassador Nuland affirmed
support for Macedonia's NATO aspirations, but stressed that
Macedonia had to convince not only the U.S., but all 26
Allies, that it was ready to join the Alliance.

SKOPJE 00000533 002 OF 002



POLITICAL MATURITY -- IMPLEMENTING MAY 29 AGREEMENT


6. (SBU) PM Gruevski said the political situation in
Macedonia had improved since the conclusion of the May 29
agreement with DUI. He pledged that the government would
take steps to fully implement the agreement, including
convening working groups on a draft law on the use of
languages, and on providing benefits for victims of the 2001
inter-ethnic conflict. He also pledged to continue combating
corruption and trafficking in persons. The GOM was
consulting with Macedonia's religious communities on the
religious freedom law, and was moving ahead with phase II of
the decentralization process mandated by the 2001 Ohrid
Framework Agreement (FWA).

NAME ISSUE -- RESOLUTION UNLIKELY, BUT WILLING TO SHOW
GOODWILL


7. (C) On the name issue, Crvenkovski said he was pessimistic
about reaching a solution in the short-term, but acknowledged
the need to demonstrate goodwill toward Athens. Parties in
Greece were trying to exploit the name issue for political
purposes, he contended, but the GOM had badly miscalculated
by renaming the Skopje Airport "Alexander the Great Airport;"
he assessed that it would be politically difficult for the
Prime Minister to retract that decision now. It was
essential in the meantime for the government to avoid further
provocative actions, and to reach out to the Greek side. He
noted that proposals to raise monuments and statues to
Alexander the Great had been shelved to avoid exacerbating
the situation. Crvenkovski added that he, the Prime Minister
and the Foreign Minister had agreed not to make public
statements on the name issue that could be viewed by Athens
as provocative.


8. (C) PM Gruevski said the GOM would try to avoid negative
public comments on the name issue. FM Milososki added that
he hoped to meet with Greek FM Bakoyannis during some
upcoming multi-lateral event to discuss the matter.
Ambassador Nuland pressed Gruevski to ensure GOM restraint in
public comments on the name dispute both before and after the
Greek elections; Ambassador Milovanovic urged the GOM to
"swallow its pride" and show restraint on the name issue in
order to stay focused on its primary goal of NATO membership.
Gruevski added that the GOM recently had clarified "some
misunderstandings" with Sofia, and that he was planning to
visit Bulgaria in September to further shore up relations.

COMMENT


9. (C) Ambassador Nuland's meeting with Gruevski helped
domestically to boost momentum in implementing the May 29
agreement and in moving forward on judicial reforms. The
government and opposition (minus DUI) met over the weekend
and on July 2 to reach agreement on several key points
regarding judicial reforms, including the draft Law on the
Public Prosecutor. Following a telcon with Ambassador
Milovanovic on July 2, in which she reminded him of his
pledge to Ambassador Nuland to fully implement the May 29
agreement, Gruevski agreed to convene on July 3 the first
session of the Working Groups to begin implementing
provisions of that agreement. In order to sustain that
momentum, we will continue to prod the GOM, including using
the upcoming July 10 meeting planned between FM Milososki and
the Secretary to ensure progress continues.


10. (U) This cable was cleared by USNATO.
MILOVANOVIC