Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07TIRANA999
2007-11-20 11:07:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Tirana
Cable title:  

ALBANIA COURTS THE NATO ALLIES WITH SUCCESS

Tags:  PREL NATO AL 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO0955
PP RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHTI #0999/01 3241107
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 201107Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY TIRANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6416
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TIRANA 000999 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/19/2017
TAGS: PREL NATO AL
SUBJECT: ALBANIA COURTS THE NATO ALLIES WITH SUCCESS

Classified By: AMBASSADOR JOHN L. WITHERS II, REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TIRANA 000999

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/19/2017
TAGS: PREL NATO AL
SUBJECT: ALBANIA COURTS THE NATO ALLIES WITH SUCCESS

Classified By: AMBASSADOR JOHN L. WITHERS II, REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D).


1. (C) SUMMARY: Senior Albanian officials voice
confidence that their accelerated outreach to NATO capitals
in recent months has rallied significant support to Albania's
NATO candidacy. Although aware no formal decisions have been
made and that they are likely to be invited in conjunction
with Croatia and Macedonia, the Albanians are gratified that
France, Germany, Spain, and Canada, previously regarded as
fence sitters, have sent strong signals of support. The
Albanians' principal concerns are now the United Kingdom,
which remains determinedly noncommittal, and Greece, whose
ongoing squabbles with Macedonia, GOA officials fear, may do
collateral harm to Albanian hopes. They are also concerned
at the perceived slowing of the pace of reform in Macedonia
itself. The GOA's next round of lobbying, which will include
inviting representatives of all the NATO allies to Tirana,
will focus specifically on these remaining problems. END
SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) In the lead-up to the Bucharest summit, Albanian
officials have blanketed Allied capitals to press the case
for a NATO invitation in April. To date, President Topi,
Parliament Speaker Topalli, Prime Minister Berisha, Foreign
Minister Basha, Defense Minister Mediu, and various
parliamentarians have crisscrossed Europe and North America,
lobbied on the margins of international conferences from
Brussels to Lisbon, and planned numerous public events and a
media blitz to underscore Albania's determined progress
toward NATO's performance-based standards. Albania's
potential contributions to the Alliance -- shown in its
military presence in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Bosnia; its
statesman-like foreign policy stances in Kosovo and
international organizations like the IAEA and OIC; and its
crucial role in regional stability in the Balkans -- were
central themes of Berisha's speeches at UNGA and the NATO
Parliamentary Assembly in Reykjavik. In addition, the GOA
has extended invitations to key NATO players, including every
Allied ambassador to NATO, to visit Tirana to assess
Albania's progress for themselves.


3. (C) GOA officials are gratified at responses to their

efforts so far. They detect a clear trend among the
Europeans toward inviting all three Balkan aspirants
(Croatia, Albania, and Macedonia) at Bucharest, and a growing
consensus that Albania is doing its part to meet NATO
requirements -- although they are in no doubt that much more
needs to be done in areas such as judicial and electoral
reform and human trafficking. In recent conversations with
the Ambassador, Foreign Minister Basha provided an informal
"scorecard" on the current situation as he sees it:

-- Among the countries that have consistently expressed
support, Basha counts the United States, Turkey, Italy, and
the Vilnius-10;

-- Among the countries that have now moved from fence
sitters to supporters, he includes France, Germany, Spain,
Portugal, Iceland, and Canada;

-- Among those that are "cautiously positive" toward Albania
are Belgium, Denmark, Norway (although Basha believes that
plans to open an embassy in Oslo in 2008 will help move the
Norwegians),and the Netherlands (here Basha is confident
that his long-time associations with the Dutch -- he was
educated at the university of Utrecht and speaks fluent Dutch
-- will help bring them around).


4. (C) Asked about remaining problem areas, Basha listed
three:

-- He is puzzled, he said, that the United Kingdom remains
determinedly noncommittal in view of what the British see as
insufficient progress toward judicial reform. Basha is
confident, however, that pending actions in Parliament in
that sphere will mollify those concerns.

-- Basha is also concerned about Greece. While Tirana's
current relations with Athens are good -- he declared that
Greek FM Bakoyannis will visit in coming weeks -- he worries
that the bilateral disputes between Greece and Macedonia are
unabating and seemingly intractable. In the "expansion by
three" scenario now gaining currency among the Allies,
Albania fears collateral damage to its own candidacy if
Skopje-Athens relations do not improve. The GOA has urged
cooperation between its two neighbors, but so far to little
effect.

-- Finally, Basha confessed himself anxious about growing
perceptions that progress toward reform in Macedonia itself
has slowed. He called it "cold comfort" when certain Allies
declared that Albania has surpassed Macedonia in its NATO
preparedness. "We are in this together," he commented.

TIRANA 00000999 002 OF 002




5. (C) COMMENT: The Albanians are pleased -- truth to
tell, relieved -- at the success of their lobbying efforts to
date. At minimum, they believe they have buried that old saw
that Albania's NATO aspirations have no support in European
capitals. Yet, despite the positive movement so far, the GOA
is gripped with a sense of urgency. Officials here are
keenly aware that, despite the growing expressions of
support, no NATO member has yet made a formal decision on
expansion. Should momentum on reform wane, an unanticipated
international event (read: Kosovo) occur, or domestic
squabbling within the Albanian body politic re-emerge, those
upbeat assessments might be reversed. They thus know the
importance of sustaining, even accelerating, their outreach
plans. Their focus must now include identified problem
cases. They believe they have the means of overcoming the
doubts of the British and other skeptics. They will,
however, certainly seek intensified Allied assistance in
interceding with Greece and Macedonia. END COMMENT.
WITHERS