MACEDONIA: POLITICAL BREAKTHROUGH ON NATO TASKS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SKOPJE 000941

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/SCE, USNATO FOR AMBASSADOR NULAND

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV NATO MK
SUBJECT: MACEDONIA: POLITICAL BREAKTHROUGH ON NATO TASKS

REF: SKOPJE 919

SUMMARY


1. (SBU) During a quadripartite meeting on November 30,
government and opposition leaders reached agreement on
several key agenda items relevant for NATO membership. On
December 3, the parties followed through in the Parliament,
passing in quick order the Law on the Parliamentary
Inter-ethnic Relations Committee, the Law on the Public
Prosecutor, and the Law on the Council of Prosecutors.
During the November 30 meeting, the parties also moved toward
completion of the State Judicial Council, another
NATO-related task. In the meantime, the government reacted
quickly to extinguish two brushfires related to the name
dispute with Greece. The message delivered by USNATO
Ambassador Nuland during her early November visit to Skopje,
and by other high-ranking USG and NATO officials since then,
has gotten through; political leaders are giving up some of
their partisan interests to focus on the urgent tasks
required to earn Macedonia a NATO membership invitation by
the 2008 Bucharest Summit. End summary.

PULLING THE RABBIT OUT OF THE HAT -- POLITICAL CONSENSUS ON
NATO TASKS


2. (SBU) Following the Ambassador's round of meetings with
government and opposition leaders to focus them on NATO
membership tasks the week of November 26 (reftel),PM
Gruevski convened the leaders of governing VMRO and DPA, and
opposition SDSM and DUI, on November 30 to hammer out a
political compromise that would move Macedonia's NATO bid
forward. Meeting in a "constructive, positive atmosphere,"
according to PM Gruevski's Chief of Staff, the four leaders
agreed to several key agenda items, surprising local analysts
who expected the talks to end in disagreement and discord.

SUPPORT FOR PASSAGE OF INTER-ETHNIC COMMITTEE LAW


3. (SBU) DUI President Ahmeti, reacting to the Ambassador's
phone call to urge flexibility earlier that day, agreed to
vote in support of the draft law on the parliamentary
Inter-ethnic Affairs Committee (IEC),and to accept VMRO's
proposal to include in the legislation 45 laws that would
require a Badinter vote to amend, and language pledging to
approve by Badinter vote any future law dealing with the use
of language. The other leaders also agreed to support the
IEC law, and VMRO pledged to reconstitute the Inter-ethnic
Affairs Committee after the law was passed, meeting a key DUI
and NATO-related demand.

GOVERNMENT'S CONCESSION ON PUBLIC PROSECUTOR LAW


4. (SBU) PM Gruevski, showing uncharacteristic willingness to
compromise with the opposition, agreed to SDSM's proposed
language on the draft Law on the Public Prosecutor. The
parties agreed to pass that law at the next plenary session
of Parliament, as well as the draft Law on the Council of
Prosecutors, both essential pieces of Macedonia's judicial
and rule of law reform strategy.

PROGRESS TOWARD COMPLETION OF STATE JUDICIAL COUNCIL


5. (SBU) In addition to substantial progress on legislative
items, the parties moved closer to a solution that would
complete the State Judicial Council. Following DPA President
Thaci's meeting with the Ambassador, DPA agreed -- grudgingly
-- to accept the candidate earlier proposed by President
Crvenkovski (reftel). VMRO asked "for another week or so" to
build intra-party consensus for the SJC candidate, although
the party continued to argue that Crvenkovski's candidate, an
ethnic Bosniak, technically was ineligible for the position
(a position the OSCE mission here has rejected in a
compelling legal analysis). Gruevski's Chief of Staff told
us he was optimistic the SJC would be fully constituted by
the end of the year.

LEGISLATIVE FOLLOW-THROUGH -- HERE'S THE BEEF


6. (SBU) During a parliamentary plenary session December 3,
the parties followed through, passing in short order the IEC

SKOPJE 00000941 002 OF 002


Law and the Law on the Public Prosecutor. The MPs also
passed the Law on the Council of Prosecutors. The Public
Prosecutor Law passed with a Badinter (qualified majority)
vote, reflecting the broad consensus reached during the
November 30 meeting.

MANAGING THE NAME ISSUE -- "NO F.Y.R.O.M. ON CUSTOMS
DOCUMENTS..."


7. (SBU) During the same week (November 26-30),the
government had to react quickly to extinguish two potential
complications in managing the name issue with Greece. First,
the Director of Customs issued a public statement explaining
that paperwork for cargo transiting or destined for Macedonia
had to use the country's constitutional name or the UN
designation (the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia),but
not the abbreviation "F.Y.R.O.M." That decision mostly
affected Greek shippers, who complained to the Customs
Office. We weighed in with MFA officials and with the
Customs Director, urging them not to allow a technical matter
to escalate into a political dispute with Athens. The
following day, the Finance Minister publicly disavowed the
Customs Director's action, explaining that such a decision
could not be reached below the cabinet level.

...LICENSE PLATES AND THE NAME


8. (SBU) Almost simultaneously, the Ministry of Interior
announced plans to issue a new automobile license plate,
effective January 2008, that would feature "Macedonia" and
the UN-standard "MK" on the plate. The MOI claimed it was
following EU standards. The move proved unpopular among
Macedonians, since the new plate was expected to cost
considerably more than current models, and since most
Macedonian drivers expected the new plate would cause them
delays or worse when they tried to travel to Greece. We
weighed in with the Deputy Foreign Minister and with the
Prime Minister's office. The GOM decided during the November
30 leaders meeting to indefinitely delay the "final" decision
on the plate design.

COMMENT: MESSAGE GETTING THROUGH


9. (SBU) The political consensus reached during the leaders
meeting and the subsequent legislative follow-through reflect
the cumulative effect of messages delivered by high-ranking
USG and NATO visitors who have hammered home to the GOM the
need to move quickly on NATO reform tasks or risk being left
in the cold at the 2008 Bucharest Summit. The Ambassador's
meetings with all key political leaders last week (reftel)
ensured that the message got through, and parties showed a
willingness to start looking beyond partisan interests to
focus on a broader national goal. PM Gruevski will host
another leaders meeting in about two weeks to discuss tasks
remaining to be completed in order to make the case for
Macedonia's NATO bid. In the meantime, we will press for
continued momentum in the race to Bucharest; neither the
government nor the opposition can afford to slow the pace now.
MILOVANOVIC