DENMARK ON GREECE AND NATO INVITATION FOR MACEDONIA

C O N F I D E N T I A L COPENHAGEN 000183 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/01/2028 TAGS: PREL NATO PGOV DA SUBJECT: DENMARK ON GREECE AND NATO INVITATION FOR MACEDONIA REF: STATE 32646 Classified By: DCM Sandra L. Kaiser, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) We used the occasion of Secretary of Defense Gates's visit to Copenhagen April 1 to urge Denmark to weigh in with the Greeks on a NATO membership invitation for Macedonia (reftel). Secretary Gates told Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen the U.S. strongly supports NATO membership invitations for all of the Adriatic Three, and the U.S. hopes other Allies will push the Greeks to be constructive on the name issue at Bucharest. PM Rasmussen replied that Denmark is a strong supporter of membership for Albania, Croatia, and Macedonia, and signaled his agreement that Allies should work with Greece to dissuade it from vetoing Macedonia's invitation. ¶2. (C) PM Rasmussen noted, however, that he had just received a letter from his Greek counterpart, whose tone was "tough" and offered little room for optimism. Secretary Gates observed an eventual compromise might involve issuing a membership invitation to Greece in Bucharest, with the understanding ratification and formal Macedonian membership would only follow after the name issue had been resolved. ¶3. (C) In a separate meeting earlier that day, Secretary Gates and the Ambassador drew on reftel points and also urged Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moller to intervene with the Greeks to prevent them from blocking Macedonian membership. Moller indicated he would do what he could to convince Greek FM Bakoyannis, but said he doubted he or his government could do much to sway her at this point. CAIN