MACEDONIA: PM GRUEVSKI ON THE NAME ISSUE AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SKOPJE 000987

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/SCE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/21/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV MK GR
SUBJECT: MACEDONIA: PM GRUEVSKI ON THE NAME ISSUE AND
KOSOVO STATUS

REF: SKOPJE 986

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

SUMMARY


1. (C) PM Gruevski is interested in reaching out to Athens
for direct talks on the name dispute. He is under pressure
from the German Chancellor to find a solution to the dispute
before the NATO summit in April. The Ambassador has
reiterated to Gruevski our support for the 1995 Interim
Accord, under which Athens agreed to accept Macedonia's
membership in NATO under the provisional name. At the same
time, she has urged him to come up with creative options for
compromise solutions based on the Nimetz framework (reftel),
earlier Nimetz proposals, or other ideas in order to make
discussions between Athens and Skopje under the Nimetz
process clearly substantive -- though not necessarily
conclusive -- before the NATO summit. She has highlighted
that even if Greece does not veto an invitation, a solution
needs to be found soon after the summit for the Greek
parliament to ratify. End summary.

USE THE NIMETZ APPROACH TO GET TO YES ON NAME DISPUTE


2. (SBU) The Ambassador met with PM Gruevski December 19 to
discuss the way forward on the name dispute with Greece and
to review Kosovo status developments. Deploying the same
points she had used in a similar meeting the previous day
with President Crvenkovski (reftel),the Ambassador
emphasized that the USG position on the name issue remained
unchanged. We would insist that both sides abide by the 1995
Interim Agreement, and that pursuant to the 1995 agreement
and the bilateral nature of the dispute, Greece had no basis
to block Macedonia's entry to NATO based solely on the name
issue. That said, the GOM should begin thinking about how to
negotiate now to prepare a compromise solution for after the
NATO summit. Planning now for "the day after" would help
ensure Greek ratification of a membership invitation. The
Ambassador urged Gruevski to think creatively and use the
Nimetz framework to compile options for approaches to a
solution, which would benefit both sides.

PM GRUEVSKI REACHES OUT TO ATHENS


3. (C) PM Gruevski said he had met with Greek PM Karamanlis
briefly at a recent EU event in Lisbon in early December.
Gruevski had suggested to Karamanlis at the time that the two
of them meet soon for direct discussions, and the Greek Prime
Minister had agreed. Unfortunately, Gruevski said,
Karamanlis arrived in Lisbon late and left early so the two
had failed to find time to schedule bilateral talks at the
mid-December meeting of the European Peoples Parties (EPP) in
Brussels.

PRESSURE FROM BERLIN TO RESOLVE THE DISPUTE BEFORE THE NATO
SUMMIT


4. (C) Gruevski said he had discussed the name issue with
German Chancellor Merkel at the Lisbon EU meeting. She had
told him that, "if it were not for Greece, you would have
full support for NATO membership." Merkel had pressed him to
"find a solution" to the issue before the NATO summit in
Bucharest. Gruevski indicated concern at this German
approach, but reiterated his firm stand that he was not/not
willing to exchange the name for NATO. The Ambassador
reiterated the importance of coming up with creative
proposals, based on the Nimetz proposal, earlier proposals,
or other ideas before the April summit, even if there was no
resolution by then.

A REGIONAL SUPPORT PACKAGE FOR KOSOVO STATUS


5. (C) The Ambassador updated Gruevski on current Kosovo
status developments, and reiterated strong USG support for
border demarcation as part of a status solution under the
Ahtisaari Plan. Gruevski said that, at the recent EPP
meeting in Brussels, he had proposed a "package for the
region" to bolster stability as Kosovo status was resolved.
In the package, Serbia would gain EU support for a
Stabilization and Association Agreement and the A-3 countries

SKOPJE 00000987 002 OF 002


would be invited to join NATO. Bosnia-Herzegovina and
Montenegro would receive some other incentives to bolster
stability.

COMMENT


6. (C) PM Gruevski is taking a tactically more moderate
approach to the name issue than he has in the past. He
responded mildly to his EPP colleagues' attempts to suggest
name compromises to him at the Brussels meeting, and seems to
be genuinely interested in direct talks with Athens to avoid
a train wreck over the name at the NATO summit. We believe
we can work with Gruevski to keep him focused on maintaining
his more constructive approach on the name dispute, and to
keep him in synch with President Crvenkovski. Coming up with
compromise proposals, other than the GOM's established dual
name formula, to present to the Greek side before the
Bucharest Summit will be a huge and possibly impossible
challenge. We will, however, continue to press Gruevski and
Crvenkovski to engage actively in the UN process and to look
for opportunities to use the Nimetz process between now and
April to build toward finally resolving this issue.
MILOVANOVIC