AMBASSADOR AND EUSR URGE ETHNIC ALBANIAN LEADERS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SKOPJE 000333 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/SCE E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/19/2008 TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM MK SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR AND EUSR URGE ETHNIC ALBANIAN LEADERS TO END CAMPAIGN VIOLENCE REF: A. SKOPJE 332 ¶B. SKOPJE 328 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: P/E LATHAM, REASONS 1.4(B) AND (D) ¶1. (C) Summary. On May 16, the Ambassador and EU Special Representative Erwan Fouere met jointly in separate meetings with ethnic Albanian party leaders Menduh Thaci and Ali Ahmeti to urge them to use their influence to end the violence in the parliamentary election campaign (ref B). Thaci complained that a desperate DUI was trying to prevent DPA from campaigning in DUI strongholds. Refuting PM Gruevski's view that he needed to clear police re-assignments with him, Thaci claimed he had no influence over the police. He promised to use whatever influence he had to punish those linked to election violence. Ahmeti reported that - as could be observed - DUI was refraining from reacting to DPA provocations, despite the violent attacks on DUI buildings and members, including himself. Despite the strong message from the Ambassador and Fouere, the violence continued over the weekend with a drive-by shooting of a DUI campaign office and a report of broken windows at a DPA office. Police are reportedly preparing to arrest suspects in the shooting incident. End summary. Thaci: I Am A Victim Too -------------- ¶2. (C) The Ambassador and Fouere told Thaci that campaign related violence was damaging Macedonia's democratic system and intimidating the voters, and if it continued it would undermine the legitimacy of the election results and weaken Macedonia's path toward NATO and EU membership. They urged Thaci to use his position as the head of DPA to make more emphatic public statements calling for an end to the violence, keep his supporters from engaging in violence, and use his influence (not so say authority) with the Deputy Minister of Interior, a DPA member, to ensure the police acted in a professional manner. ¶3. (C) Thaci claimed that the media had not covered his earlier statement that he would do everything possible to find the perpetrators of the violence. He then said DUI was not the only victim of campaign related violence; there had been gun shots into the air at recent DPA events and there were towns where he could not campaign. In these DUI controlled towns DPA had not been able to open a campaign office or fly their party flags. He said that DUI was desperate because when they voted in parliament for early elections they thought they had a deal with Prime Minister Gruevski that he would take DUI into his coalition after the election, but now it is clear that Gruevski had betrayed them and would form a coalition with DPA. Additionally, according to Thaci, DUI was worried because the Kosovars who had helped DUI in past elections had not been able to come to Macedonia during this campaign because Thaci's excellent relations with Kosovar leaders had prevented any such movement across the border. ¶4. (C) The Ambassador noted that she and Fouere had told Gruevski that in towns where the violence had occurred some of the police, and especially the under-cover "Alpha" police units, did not appear to be acting in a non-partisan manner and should be rotated somewhere else and replaced with police from other parts of Macedonia until after the election (ref A). Thaci said that he had no influence over the police, and claimed that the Deputy Minister of Interior had been sidelined within the ministry, but that DPA would do everything within its power to fire police if there were evidence they had been involved in violence. He added that if the police were rotated out of the problematic areas he could not be held responsible for what might happen. Thaci did agree, at the suggestion of the Ambassador, that DPA would be willing to coordinate with DUI and the police on scheduling rallies and other election events to avoid possible confrontations, as had been done successfully in ¶2006. ¶5. (C) Thaci also harshly criticized Gruevski, stating that Gruevski was deliberately stimulating conflict between the ethnic Albanian parties to conceal his manipulation of the SKOPJE 00000333 002 OF 002 elections. Thaci said that Gruevski did not believe in fair elections and controlled the Macedonian language media. Despite his angry criticism of Gruevski as a man who was trying to make Thaci look bad, Thaci confidently predicted that DPA, not DUI, would ultimately enter a coalition government with Gruevski's VMRO party. Ahmeti: Provoked But Trying To Keep The Situation Calm -------------- -------------- ¶6. (C) In a separate meeting with Ahmeti, the Ambassador and Fouere also urged him to use his influence to prevent any further campaign related violence. They noted that most of the violence had thus far appeared to be directed at DUI buildings and members, including Ahmeti himself, and they commended Ahmeti for calling for calm in reaction to the violent provocations. They requested that he direct the DUI party members to promote a free and fair election by allowing DPA to campaign in those towns where DUI has a strong presence. The Ambassador also noted the negative image that had been created when the DUI mayor of Gostivar had closed the schools during a DUI rally in the nearby city of Tetovo, reportedly to increase the size of the crowd. ¶7. (C) Ahmeti thanked the U.S. and EU for publicly calling for an end to the violence and said that, despite the continued provocations from DPA, he was trying to avoid any violent reaction by DUI members. He urged the Ambassador and Fouere to not "put the victims and the criminals in the same bag" by equating the actions of DUI and DPA. He said that he had told Gruevski that there were convicted criminals in the police force who were supporting DPA, and that DUI was compiling a list of names of these people that they would provide to the OSCE. The Ambassador requested that Ahmeti share the list with the Embassy so that the Embassy could discuss these individuals with GOM authorities. ¶8. (C) Ahmeti welcomed the U.S./EU suggestion to rotate members of the police out of the "hot spots" during the campaign. He demurred on having DUI and DPA members coordinate directly on avoiding potential conflicting campaign events, but agreed to coordinate with the police on this. Comment: Message Received - Result Uncertain -------------- ¶9. (C) Thaci and Ahmeti received the clear message from the Ambassador and Fouere that campaign related violence was damaging to Macedonia and the legitimacy of the ethnic Albanian parties. However, both leaders see this election as critical to their parties' future and hope that a strong showing will make the case that their party should be a member of Gruevski's coalition after the election - with all the accompanying opportunities for advancing their policy goals but also their patronage and influence in government institutions. Given the high stakes, exhortations from the international community for free and fair elections may have limited impact. One day after these meetings, on the night of May 17, a DUI party building was shot at (it was unoccupied at the time) and a DPA building's windows were reportedly broken. The police are reportedly preparing to arrest DPA-affiliated suspects in the shooting, according to MOI sources. MILOVANOVIC