MACEDONIA: IMPLEMENTING THE MAY 29 AGREEMENT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SKOPJE 000567

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

STATE FOR EUR/SCE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL NATO PINR MK
SUBJECT: MACEDONIA: IMPLEMENTING THE MAY 29 AGREEMENT
BETWEEN VMRO AND DUI

REF: A. SKOPJE 533

B. SKOPJE 418

SUMMARY



1. (SBU) Implementation of the May 29 agreement between
governing VMRO-DPMNE and opposition DUI (reftels) began July
9 with the first meeting of separate working groups on a
draft law on the use of languages, and on a package of social
benefits for victims of the 2001 conflict. Consistent USG
pressure on the government over the past several weeks, and
close coordination between the Embassy and the EUSR to forge
a common position on implementation, helped overcome stiff
resistance and convince the Prime Minister to respect his
commitments under the agreement. Both parties now must work
to bridge their substantive differences over the issues under
discussion, and will then need to lobby other parties in the
parliament to gain the support needed to pass whatever draft
proposals emerge from the working groups. End summary.


May 29 Agreement Implementation Begins...
--------------



2. (SBU) Following USNATO Ambassador Nuland's June 29 meeting
with PM Gruevski on the margins of the NATO EAPC Forum (ref
A),Ambassador Milovanovic met with the Prime Minister on
July 5 and pressed him to honor the May 29 agreement he
concluded with DUI's Ali Ahmeti and to make good on his
pledge to Nuland to implement the May 29 agreement (ref B).
Gruevski's initial insistence on attempting to disregard the
agreement by convening multi-party working groups (WGs) on a
draft law on the use of languages, and on a social
compensation package for victims of the 2001 conflict,
finally gave way to the Ambassador's argument that the WGs
initially should be comprised solely of VMRO and DUI, as the
parties to the May 29 agreement, with other parties
eventually being invited to participate once the process was
up and running. (COMMENT: FM Milososoki's meeting with the
Secretary, which had been scheduled for July 10, probably

SIPDIS
helped drive the timing of Gruevski's decision to show more
flexibility regarding the composition of the WGs, which met
late the evening of the preceding day. END COMMENT.)


3. (SBU) Both WGs met at the Parliament the evening of July

9. An EUSR representative monitored the WG on social
compensation for the victims of conflict, and a US Embassy
representative monitored the language law WG. VMRO
participants in the WGs included the Minister of Interior and
a Deputy Prime Minister, while DUI was represented by party
notables and the DUI mayor of the Skopje suburb of Cair. PM
Gruevski's Chief of Staff also observed the WG proceedings.


...Way Ahead
--------------



4. (SBU) A VMRO representative opened the WG meeting on the
language law with an update on the status of implementation
of the first two points of the May 29 agreement
(incorporation into the parliamentary rulebook of a list of
46 laws requiring double majority voting, and reconstitution
of the parliament's Committee on Inter-ethnic Relations, both
key DUI demands). He reported that VMRO expected both issues
to be resolved in the coming two weeks. DUI representatives
responded positively to those steps, but noted the need to
focus on the substantive issues under consideration in the
WGs.


5. (SBU) After discussing next steps, the participants agreed
to convene WG meetings over the next several weeks to deal
with substantive matters. They agreed on the composition of
the WGs and on the venues for future meetings. The language
law WG members agreed to review each other's drafts of a law
on the use of languages, and to discuss the drafts at the
next WG meeting, scheduled for July 19. The discussions were
cordial and positive, with both sides searching for a
pragmatic approach to keeping the process moving forward.


Comment
--------------

SKOPJE 00000567 002 OF 002




6. (SBU) The convening of the first meeting of the WGs is a
positive first step, but only a first step, in implementing
the May 29 agreement. Both parties now must work to bridge
their substantive differences over the issues under
discussion, should keep their respective coalition partners
informed of developments, and will then need to lobby other
parties in the parliament to gain the support needed to pass
whatever draft proposals emerge from the working groups.
That the meetings were held was due largely to the consistent
USG and EUSR message on the need to include just VMRO and DUI
in the initial discussions, and to only broaden membership in
the WGs to include other parties once sufficient progress was
made in the VMRO-DUI political dialogue to build confidence
between the two sides. The outcome also reflects the close
coordination between the Embassy and the EUSR office, which
persuaded PM Gruevski that he had to take steps to begin
implementing the agreement in order to demonstrate progress
in fulfilling the political criteria necessary for
Macedonia's NATO and EU membership goals.
MILOVANOVIC