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