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