GREEK RESPONSE TO MACEDONIAN ICJ LAWSUIT STRONG

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ATHENS 001569 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL GR MK EU NATO SUBJECT: GREEK RESPONSE TO MACEDONIAN ICJ LAWSUIT STRONG AND SWIFT REFS: SKOPJE 696 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED Q PROTECT ACCORDINGLY ¶1. (SBU) Greek reaction was swift and forceful to the announcement by the Republic of Macedonia that it had filed legal proceedings against Greece in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for violating the terms of the 1995 Interim Accord by blocking MacedoniaQs NATO accession (reftel). Almost immediately following the Macedonian announcement on November 17, Greek MFA spokesman Koumoutsakos issued a statement accusing the Macedonians of sabotaging the UN-sponsored name negotiations, violating the Interim Accord, and failing to uphold the principle of good-neighborly relations (full text reprinted in para 4 below). Koumoutsakos promised that Greece would participate in the ICJ proceedings and use the opportunity to prove that Macedonia was the party guilty of violating the Interim Accord. He also said that Greece remained committed to the UN negotiation process and affirmed Greece's "well- known positions" in the talks. ¶2. (SBU) Main opposition PASOK similarly reacted strongly but also seized the opportunity to criticize the Karamanlis government for allegedly being caught off- guard by the Macedonian announcement. In a press release, PASOK charged that "the Government discovers moves that affect our sensitive issues via the mass media, just as it did when it learned that the USA had recognized Skopje under its constitutional name from television." PASOK, the statement said, had warned since last summer that the "nationalist leadership in Skopje" was planning to violate the UN-sponsored process on the name issue and, thus, lead "the efforts to resolve the name problem to an impasse." Skopje had chosen "nationalism over good neighborly relations." ¶3. (SBU) COMMENT: Macedonia's recourse to the ICJ is being seen in Athens as vindication by those who have maintained that PM Gruevski and his team are not interested in resolving the name dispute anytime soon, but are exploiting the issue for domestic political gain. While the GOG Q like the GOM -- has publicly pledged to continue with the negotiating process under UN envoy Nimetz, GOG and PASOK statements, as well as commentary in the press, were in general agreement that the Macedonian action likely represents a qualitative change in the dispute. At the same time, Greek diplomats and legal experts appear confident -- at least initially -- that both the force of Athens' arguments and its greater experience in international legal fora give Skopje slim chances for success at the ICJ. END COMMENT. ¶4. (U) BEGIN TEXT OF GREEK MFA STATEMENT: Statement of Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mr. G. Koumoutsakos Regarding FYROMQs Recourse to the ICJ Mr. Gruevski's government, after having rejected the recent set of ideas put forward by the Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General for the name issue, Ambassador M. Nimetz, today continued his delaying tactics, by instituting proceedings at the International Court of Justice regarding an alleged violation on the part of Greece of article 11 of the 1995 Interim Accord. It initiated this action, concealing the fact that the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia itself had earlier flagrantly violated a series of fundamental articles/obligations explicitly foreseen in this Accord, but also the fundamental principle of good-neighborly relations. In the course of the judicial process, we will have the opportunity to submit documents and memos, analyzing Greece's positions on the undisguised and continuous violations of the Interim Accord by the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. With this action, the government of Skopje once again reaffirms that it is not interested in a swift resolution of the dispute on the issue of the countryQs definitive name, as explicitly stipulated in UN Security Council Resolution 845 of 1993. Greece will participate in this process in a self- confident and determined manner representative of the comprehensiveness, clarity and substance of its arguments. ATHENS 00001569 002 OF 002 Irrespective of the abovementioned developments, Greece remains committed to the UN negotiating process aimed at reaching a mutually acceptable solution on the name issue. It further firmly stands by its well-known positions. END TEXT OF GREEK MFA STATEMENT SPECKHARD