MACEDONIA MEETING NATO MEMBERSHIP CRITERIA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SKOPJE 000153

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/SCE, NSC FOR BERT BRAUN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/26/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV KCRM NATO MK GR
SUBJECT: MACEDONIA MEETING NATO MEMBERSHIP CRITERIA

REF: A. SKOPJE 143


B. SKOPJE 99

C. SKOPJE 86

Classified By: P/E CHIEF SHUBLER, REASONS 1.4(B) AND (D).

SUMMARY
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1. (C) In striving to meet NATO membership requirements, the
GOM is taking a constructive approach to resolving the name
dispute with Athens, although there are concerns the Greeks
will veto Macedonia's NATO bid even if Skopje demonstrates
additional flexibility. The government has shown significant
progress in pursuing implementation of the May 29 agreement,
but opposition DUI tactics make it unlikely that the social
package for victims of the 2001 conflict or a draft language
law will be complete before key decisions are made on NATO
membership. Anti-corruption efforts continue to reflect
government willingness to tackle cases involving prominent
ex-officials with past ties to the current government, as
well as petty corruption that undermines public confidence in
government institutions. End summary.

NAME DISPUTE -- CONSTRUCTIVE APPROACH
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2. (C) Although resolving the name dispute with Greece is not
a NATO membership criterion, the Macedonian government has
worked hard over the past 10 days to find through the Nimetz
process a constructive solution to the issue that will remove
the Greek veto threat. It has tried to prepare the public
for a compromise, broken with its past "dual name" position
to signal willingness to accept a differentiated name for use
in international organizations, and reiterated its commitment
to the Nimetz process and continued negotiations (ref A).


3. (C) Following meetings between the government and
opposition over the February 23-24 weekend, Macedonia's
political leaders reached consensus on using the five names
proposed by Nimetz as a "common basis" for a mutually-agreed
name to be used in bilateral relations with Athens.
According to the PM's Chief of Staff Martin Protoger, the
group also agreed to indicate which parts of the Nimetz
proposal were acceptable, which needed further clarification,
and which were unacceptable. Greek PM Karamanlis's recent
press statements reiterating the threat of a Greek veto had
made it difficult for the government to be more
forward-leaning in its initial negotiating position, Protoger
said.

WILL ATHENS VETO EVEN IF SKOPJE IS FLEXIBLE?
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4. (C) In a meeting with the Ambassador February 25, FM
Milososki said there was increasing concern in government
circles that Greece would veto Macedonia's NATO bid even if
Skopje showed additional flexibility. In addition, he said,
the government wanted to get from Nimetz further
clarification about what was meant by paragraph 8 of his
proposal ("No state shall assert exclusive rights, political
or commercial, to the names "Macedonia" or "Macedonian"
standing alone.) Was that formulation intended to exclude
the right of Macedonians to describe their nationality or
language?

MAY 29 AGREEMENT -- LAST MILE'S THE TOUGHEST
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5. (SBU) Implementation of the May 29 VMRO-DUI agreement,
already three-fifths complete, has bogged down over
fundamental philosophical differences in approach (ref B).
Although progress on remaining issues is stalled, however,
the atmosphere in regular VMRO-DUI meetings is steadily
improving and occasionally is even cordial.


6. (SBU) Despite the government's offer to DUI of a social
package for victims of conflict, DUI has resurrected its
insistence on a law on former NLA fighters (a non-starter for
VMRO and a condition that was not required in the May 29
agreement). Nor has DUI dropped its explicit linkage between
completing the social package deal and closing a deal on a
draft language law to be submitted to parliament. As a
result, the social package discussions remain deadlocked;
neither side has moved to restart that process.


6. (SBU) Progress on a draft language law has been slow but

SKOPJE 00000153 002 OF 002


notable, with VMRO agreeing during a joint working group
meeting on February 22 to DUI's proposal to allow the use of
the Albanian language by the chairs of parliamentary
committees. Despite acknowledgments on both sides that a
solution to the issue is unlikely before the NATO summit, the
two parties have agreed to continue discussions in the next
two working group meetings on use of minority languages in
parliament, in the judiciary, and in the executive branch.
Junior governing coalition partner DPA's reluctance to allow
DUI any more "successes" is an additional brake on concluding
remaining May 29 issues.

ANTI-CORRUPTION EFFORTS MOVING AHEAD
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7. (SBU) As reported in ref C, the GOM's anti-corruption
efforts are steadily progressing. Two ongoing "big fish"
trials, of a prominent Macedonian businessman and a former
National Bank Governor with past ties to the current
government, demonstrate the GOM's willingness to combat
corruption in a non-partisan and transparent manner. The
government also has targeted crooked government toll-booth
collectors, showing it is equally willing to take robust
action against public employees to fight even petty
corruption activities.
MILOVANOVIC