GOG TO EMB SKOPJE DCM: POSITION FIRM BUT READY TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L ATHENS 001299

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/12/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL GR MK
SUBJECT: GOG TO EMB SKOPJE DCM: POSITION FIRM BUT READY TO
DEAL

Classified By: DCM DEBORAH MCCARTHY. REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D).


1. (C) SUMMARY: Greece is prepared to make a deal on the name
dispute with Macedonia "tomorrow," senior Greek officials
told visiting Embassy Skopje DCM Navratil in meetings August
22 in Athens, but Greece's position on a composite name and
its universal international usage -- "ergo omnes" -- remains
firm. GOG officials conceded that the "Skopjans" had a right
to their own cultural and national identity, but they
believed these issues were best left out of negotiations.
Greece views PM Gruevski as intransigent and believes he does
not want a deal. Embassy Skopje DCM reported that the view
in Skopje is a mirror image: Gruevski believes PM Karamanlis
is just as inflexible and also distrusting that the GOG would
ever reach agreement with Macedonia. Navratil also noted
that Gruevski's negotiating style seems to be to maintain the
hard-line all the way to sudden agreement. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) Embassy Skopje DCM Navratil and POL/ECON Chief Burger
attended meetings with PM Karamanlis' diplomatic advisor
Ambassador Constantinos Bitsios and MFA Secretary General
Agathocles, along with Embassy Athens Charge d'Affairs
McCarthy and A/PolCouns Carter August 22, 2008, to discuss
the Macedonian name issue. While Navratil made clear that he
and Burger were not representing the GoM and that the USG was
not part of the Nimetz negotiations, they sought to offer
clarification of the situation in Macedonia for GoG officials
and to gain greater understanding of the Greek position to
help our interlocutors in Skopje understand it better without
the smokescreen of testy exchanges in the press.

BITSIOS
--------------


3. (C) Bitsios quickly rehearsed the overall Greek position:
Macedonia as a geographic term includes northern Greece and
parts of Bulgaria and Albania, as well as the country Greece
calls FYROM, whose use of the name "Republic of Macedonia"
attempts to assert exclusive claim to the entire territory.
Thus, Greece insists on an adjective to remove this implicit
claim on Greek lands.


4. (C) Bitsios argued that agreement on a name and its scope
of use is the crux of the problem. Greece is not intent on
taking a position on the adjective "Macedonian" to describe
the country's language and people. However, Greece was
forced to take a position on this issue because the
Macedonians have done so. If Macedonia does not insist on
this being part of the agreement, Greece will not do so. If
it does insist, "we have good arguments" for why the
adjective would require modification.


5. (C) Use of a new name "ergo omnes" is the only way,
Bitsios asserted, to solve the issue. Without this approach,
the competition between Greece and Macedonia for third
countries to recognize bilaterally would continue without
end. While the new name would be required in all
international fora, Greece would not object to the informal
use of the term "Macedonian" in referring to the country, for
example participants in international meetings referring to
their "Macedonian colleagues," "the Macedonian position,"
etc. However, Greece would not be able to put this into a
formal agreement.


6. (C) Bitsios pressed for our assessment of PM Gruevski,
adding that the GoG is convinced he does not want a deal.
Embassy Skopje DCM Navratil responded that Gruevski's
impression of PM Karamanlis is exactly the same: Greece is
pursuing a hard line and opposes progress. Bitsios demurred:
Greece is ready to make a deal "tomorrow morning." Indeed,
he added, Greece is tired of looking like "a foolish pest" in
international fora as it seeks to prevent the use of
Macedonia's constitutional name. He asserted that aside from
the name issue, bilateral ties are generally good: trade and
people-to-people relations are extensive and positive. A
solution on the name would not only clear the path for
Macedonian NATO membership and EU negotiations, but would
also improve bilateral ties further.

MFA SECGEN AGATHOCLES
--------------


7. (C) While asserting that the GOG was not interested in
history, Agathocles nevertheless begin by hinting that PM
Gruevski harbors dark plans for territorial claims on Greek
territory. He cited photos of Gruevski laying a wreath at an
official event in front of a crude map showing Macedonian
territory extending deep into northern Greece, as well as
Macedonian MOD and school history textbook maps showing the
same configuration. He said he had heard Gruevski tell a
domestic audience that Macedonia's capital will one day
include Thessaloniki. (This was new to us.) For now, he
continued, Macedonia is acting as an "enemy" of Greece.


8. (C) Only Macedonia's agreement to change its name will
reassure Greece that Skopje has given up on claims on Greek
territory. While "they really don't meet NATO standards," a
mutually acceptable deal on the name is essential to open the
door to membership in the Alliance and to a date for EU
negotiations. Without a change, Greece would stand opposed.



9. (C) Agathocles asserted that the GoG accepts that the
Macedonians have an identity; however, they (Macedonians)
have no right to claim a cultural heritage for a geographic
region beyond its boundaries He accused the Gruevski
government of using the issue of Macedonian identity as a
smokescreen to derail the name negotiations and foment
Macedonian irredentism.


10. (C) According to Agathocles, once a name is agreed upon
the "secondary issues" will fall into place. Athens does not
have a timetable for negotiations, but Agathocles said Greece
is prepared to resolve the issue "tomorrow" and certainly in

2008. If Macedonia wants to be a partner, it must act like a
partner and pursue good neighborly relations. Agathocles
argued that Athens showed good faith in negotiating the
Interim Accord in 1995 and again when PM Karmanlis made the
bold and historic decision to accept the word "Macedonia" in
a new composite name. Yet the Macedonians responded by
putting additional issues on the table, such as the
Macedonian minority in Greece and the church issue,
"endlessly" provoking Athens through letters and the media.


11. (C) Agathocles said that he personally thought "New
Macedonia" would be the best option for a name and would
satisfy Greece's view that Macedonia has no valid claim to
regional antiquities or lineage from Alexander the Great.
However, he made clear that Greece's position regarding a
geographic modifier is firm.

NEGOTIATION / TACTICS
--------------


12. (C) DCM Navratil noted that PM Gruevski and his team have
consistently maintained to us that they want to reach an
agreement that opens the way to NATO and the EU. He urged
that Greece refrain from concluding on the basis of
Gruevski's outward posture that he doesn't want to settle
this, and shed some light for both Agathocles and Bitsios on
what we have observed of PM Gruevski's negotiating tactics:
he will remain unyielding up to the last minute then suddenly
make a deal. Agathocles responded by saying that he has been
involved with many negotiations and no one who has taken that
approach gets what they want. Bitsios similarly expressed
perplexity at Gruevski's tactics, noting that rather than a
negotiating ploy, Gruevski's approach appeared designed to
guarantee a deal was not reached.

SPECKHARD