MACEDONIA: AMBASSADOR AND EUSR PRESS ALBANIAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SKOPJE 000389

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/SCE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/14/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL MK
SUBJECT: MACEDONIA: AMBASSADOR AND EUSR PRESS ALBANIAN
LEADERS FOR CLEAN ELECTIONS

REF: SKOPJE 388

SUMMARY
--------------


1. (C) The Ambassador and EUSR Fouere jointly pressed DUI's
Ahmeti and DPA's Thaci on June 13 to instruct their
supporters to exercise restraint and to demonstrate orderly
conduct that would produce free, fair and peaceful election
re-runs on June 15. Ahmeti said the government and DPA
activists had been responsible for the violence and
intimidation that marred the June 1 elections, but pledged to
call on his supporters to reject violence or intimidation as
tactics on June 15. Thaci blamed alleged Kosovar
reinforcements supporting DUI for the June 1 violence and
intimidation. He also accused the VMRO-led government of
pursuing a "perfidious game" of inciting intra-Albanian
conflict in order to deflect public attention from government
shortcomings, but likewise said he would instruct his
supporters to avoid actions that could lead to a repeat of
the June 1 incidents. End summary.

U.S./EU: COMMIT TO CLEAN AND PEACEFUL ELECTIONS
-------------- ---


2. (SBU) The Ambassador and EUSR Fouere jointly met with
eAlbanian DUI President Ahmeti and -- separately -- with DPA
President Thaci on June 13 to press for clean and peaceful
re-run elections on June 15 (reftel). They outlined steps
the Ministry of Interior had taken to provide secure and
orderly voting, including removing DPA-affiliated
plainclothes police ("Alphas") accused of complicity in many
of the violent incidents that marred the June 1 elections.


3. (SBU) The Ambassador told both leaders that we were
concerned about reports that Kosovars would be brought to
Macedonia as reinforcements for one or both parties. We were
coordinating with KFOR to monitor border movements. So far,
there was no evidence of a Kosovar influx. Both the U.S. and
EU wanted re-runs in which electoral conduct was far better
than it had been on June 1. We wanted both leaders to assure
us that they would instruct their supporters to behave in a
peaceful and orderly manner on June 15.


4. (SBU) Fouere told Thaci that EU HighRep Solana had been
disappointed by the June 1 electoral debacle. Solana had
asked Fouere to convey that Macedonia's EU accession
prospects would be undermined if the June 15 re-run election
was similarly flawed. He expected Thaci and all in his party
and in the government to uphold international standards for
free and fair elections. A party aspiring to joint the next
government would lose its legitimacy if it engaged in
violence and intimidation to win elections.

DUI: GOVERNMENT AND DPA ARE TO BLAME
--------------


5. (C) Ahmeti said the police had been complicit in the
ballot-stuffing and violence that had marred the June 1
elections. DUI wanted to cooperate with the authorities to
prevent such incidents on June 15. DPA, however, was
inciting further aggressive behavior by promising its
supporters that criminal charges would be lifted against
perpetrators of electoral violence and intimidation. Ahmeti
had asked PM Gruevski to send police backup forces to
potential "hot spots" on the re-run day. The PM had been
non-committal, though, pledging only to send high-ranking
VMRO officials to serve as election monitors in those
municipalities.


6. (C) Ahmeti said that if Thaci committed to an
incident-free re-run day, that would be the outcome. If he
used MOI forces again to intimidate voters, the outcome would
be negative. Ahmeti proposed coordinating between the local
electoral HQs chiefs from both parties to jointly monitor,
together with the police, electoral activities at the polls
on June 15. If that did not work, DUI would have to "take
measures against intimidation" caused by DPA supporters.


7. (C) Referring to the Supreme Court's June 12 decision to
annul a number of SEC decisions ordering re-runs at
problematic polling stations (reftel),Ahmeti said the ruling

SKOPJE 00000389 002 OF 002


had been "damaging and contrary to the law." The Court had
overturned SEC decisions to order re-runs in some Tetovo
polling stations where there had been abnormally high turnout
and an excessively high number of invalid ballots, indicating
a clear bias in that ruling. Nevertheless, Ahmeti said, he
would publicly call on his supporters to reject violence or
intimidation on June 15.


DPA: BLAME THE KOSOVARS, VMRO'S PERFIDIOUS GAME...
-------------- --------------


8. (C) Thaci said Kosovar "muscle" had contributed to the
violence and intimidation on June 1. He also blamed the
VMRO-led government for its "perfidious game" to stain the
reputation of Macedonia's eAlbanian community by pointing the
finger at high-ranking DPA officials in the MOI and police as
the ones responsible for the Election Day misdeeds. The
officials did not, in fact, have much influence in the MOI
ranks, Thaci claimed. VMRO was using such "perfidious
tactics" to cover up electoral irregularities committed by
its own supporters, and to stimulate intra-Albanian clashes
to divert public attention from its own policy shortcomings.
Furthermore, no one had complained about DUI landslide
victories in some municipalities, such as Kichevo, "where
Ahmeti's party had won 20,000 votes compared to DPA's 200."


9. (C) Thaci admitted that he bore partial responsibility for
the June 1 incidents, but said other electoral "stupidities"
(e.g., ballot stuffing in Saraj that produced 100 percent
turnout!) were beyond his control. He pledged to tell his
supporters that they would have to bear the blame and
consequences for events on June 15 "if things got out of
control." Wherever irregularities occurred, he would support
additional re-runs. At any rate, he expected DPA to fare
well in the June 15 voting, with his party trailing DUI by
one MP seat at most.


10. (C) The Ambassador pointed out to Thaci that he did not
have to be a willing participant in the VMRO "game" the DPA
leader had described. Thaci concurred. June 15, the
Ambassador continued, was a chance for eAlbanians to repair
the damage done on June 1. There should be no additional
re-runs, she added, since that would only add to
intra-Albanian tensions.

COMMENT
--------------


11. (C) Both Ahmeti and Thaci were calm and relaxed, in
contrast to the agitation both had displayed before the June
1 elections. Ahmeti likely is calmly confident because he is
positioned to pick up significantly more seats if the June 15
polling is free and fair. Thaci, however, usually appears
most relaxed when he is hiding his trump cards. Our
monitoring teams will be watching closely on June 15 to see
how he will play his hand when the stakes will be highest: if
the re-runs are, in the end, free and fair.
Milovanovic