MACEDONIA: NEW DIRECTOR OF INTELLIGENCE AGENCY,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SKOPJE 000753 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/SCE PAUL PFEUFFER E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/15/2017 TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR MK SUBJECT: MACEDONIA: NEW DIRECTOR OF INTELLIGENCE AGENCY, VIKTOR DIMOVSKI Classified By: POLOFF NEISULER, REASONS 1.4(b) & (d). NEW DIRECTOR OF MIA ¶1. (SBU) On September 11, President Crvenkovski appointed Viktor Dimovski, who had been serving until then as Macedonia's Ambassador in Belgrade, to be the director of the Macedonian Intelligence Agency (MIA). Dimovski replaced Kire Naumov, who resigned, "due to personal reasons," at the end of August after a 14-month-long tenure. Dimovski was born in 1959 in Bitola. He graduated from Skopje University's Law School. He is married and has two daughters, ages 17 and 19. A YUGOSLAV SPY... ¶2. (SBU) From 1982 through 1995, Dimovski worked for the Bitola section of the Yugoslav Directorate for Security and Counterintelligence, under the Federal Ministry of Interior (MOI). In 1995, he left the MOI and joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) as an assistant minister for Balkan countries. After that, Dimovski was named the national coordinator for the Stability Pact project on developing entrepreneurship and small and medium sized enterprises in the former Yugoslavia. He was also Macedonia's political director in the South Eastern European Cooperative Process (SEECP). NEGOTIATOR WITH SERBIA ON BORDER, AND AMBASSADOR TO BELGRADE... ¶3. (SBU) In 2001, Dimovski served as Macedonia's coordinator in the negotiations with Belgrade over the delineation of the Macedonia-Yugoslavia (and later, Macedonia-Serbia and Macedonia-Kosovo) border. From 2003 to 2007, Dimovski served as the Macedonian Ambassador to Belgrade, and the non-resident ambassador to Israel. COMMENT ¶4. (C) Dimovski was a reliable contact during the 2001 border negotiations, when he shared with us advance copies of the maps and the draft agreement. However, recurrent rumors that he is "in Serbia's pocket" make us somewhat uneasy about his appointment. At this critical juncture for the Kosovo status process, Crvenkovski's appointment of an intelligence director with long experience working with Belgrade and alleged pro-Serbian positions raises concerns. We will monitor closely Dimovski's actions in his new position. MILOVANOVIC