MACEDONIA: FM MILOSOSKI ASSURES AMBASSADOR THAT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SKOPJE 000473

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/SCE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV NATO MK
SUBJECT: MACEDONIA: FM MILOSOSKI ASSURES AMBASSADOR THAT
MACEDONIA REMAINS "NATO-READY," ASKS FOR HELP ON GREECE, IS
POSITIVE ON KOSOVO

REF: SKOPJE 464

SUMMARY


1. (SBU) Macedonia remains "NATO-ready" despite apparent
recent steps away from democratization and a supplemental
budget re-balance that directed funds away from the Ministry
of Defense, according to Foreign Minister Milososki in his
July 22 meeting with the Ambassador. He sought to deflect
our concerns about what Greece perceives as provocative
rhetoric on the name dispute, but agreed on a
"back-to-basics" approach. Milososki reported progress on
Kosovo border demarcation and agreed to revisit practical
mechanisms to address the "human dimension" of the final
border. End Summary.

NATO-READINESS: PERCEPTIONS MATTER
--------------


2. (SBU) The Ambassador, in her July 22 meeting with FM
Milososki, expressed concern that Macedonia is not doing all
it could do to be, and to be perceived as, "NATO-ready"
following the Bucharest summit. She called upon Macedonia to
focus attention on issues of democratic dialogue, rule of
law, and defense readiness -- areas in which some
post-Bucharest developments in Macedonia have drawn
criticism.


3. (SBU) Specifically, the Ambassador pointed out that
Macedonia's recent supplemental budget re-balance, which
shifted considerable funding from the Ministry of Defense to
the Ministry of the Interior, raises questions about
Macedonia's ability to continue with needed military reforms
and training, as well as Macedonia's support of NATO
missions. Without offering budget details, Minister
Milososki assured the Ambassador that the budget re-balance
"will not affect Macedonia's ability or willingness related
to military reforms, equipment and training." He further
offered that the Government would intervene to address
budgetary issues should the re-balance have any negative
impact on Macedonia's military readiness or commitments.


4. (SBU) In areas of rule of law and democratic dialogue,
the Ambassador raised concerns about the MoI's role in
prompting a media circus surrounding the arrest of an
opposition party vice president (reftel),and the
Parliament's passage of a controversial procedural rulebook
in the absence of the opposition. Both raise concerns about
Macedonia's commitment to mature political dialogue. FM
Milososki shared the Ambassador's concerns about the impact
of the passage of the rulebook, saying "I personally was not
happy that the rulebook was passed in the absence of the
opposition." He assured the Ambassador, however, that the
content of the new rulebook is democratic and
well-structured.

TURNING DOWN THE TEMPERATURE AND MAKING PROGRESS ON THE NAME
DISPUTE
-------------- --------------


5. (SBU) FM Milososki thanked the USG for continued
engagement on the name dispute, including Secretary Rice's
firm assurance of continued U.S. recognition of Macedonia
under its constitutional name. He asked the Ambassador to
relay to Washington his Government's request that the U.S.
consider adding a footnote to NATO documents, as Turkey does,
citing recognition of Macedonia's constitutional name. He
suggested that such a footnote could be important both
symbolically and a means of motivating Greece to focus on
resolving the name dispute. The Ambassador agreed to do so,
but added that the GoM should have no/no expectation of the
U.S. footnoting.


6. (SBU) The Ambassador replied that Macedonia must expend
every effort to make progress on the name dispute between now
and the next NATO Ministerial meeting in December. She
suggested that Macedonia should offer concrete proposals to
UN Negotiator Nimetz and avoid provocations with Greece,
either real or perceived. She called into question the
recent public release of PM Gruevski's letter to Greek PM

SKOPJE 00000473 002 OF 002


Karamanlis on the issue of the Macedonian minority in Greece,
saying that it unnecessarily raised tensions between the two
countries. She also urged that Macedonia not play up events
such as the meeting of the "Aegean Refugee Children," instead
aiming to de-escalate tensions.


7. (SBU) The Ambassador told the FM that the U.S. supports
the parties "getting back to basics" in name negotiations --
focusing only the name and scope of use, rather than
peripheral issues outside the immediate scope of UN
Negotiator Nimetz -- and noted that the USG will share that
view with Nimetz. FM Milososki fully concurred with the need
to re-focus the scope of the name negotiations, adding "the
interim agreement should be replaced with a final agreement
that does not exceed a single page." The FM suggested,
however, that Gruevski's recent letter to Karamanlis had the
desired effect of deterring the Greek side from pressing on
other peripheral issues. He asserted that the Greek Deputy
FM, following the recent exchange of letters between
Macedonia and Greece on the issue, also expressed a desire to
get back to the basic issues of the name and scope of use.

THE HUMAN DIMENSION OF KOSOVO BORDER DEMARCATION
-------------- ---


8. (SBU) More upbeat than in previous conversations, the FM
indicated that Macedonia is pleased with recent progress on
the demarcation of the Kosovo border, noting that the Joint
Technical Committee's (JTC's) work is progressing well and
that they expect to have key border stones in place for all
but two areas of the border (including the strategic
highpoint of Kodra Fura) by the end of August or middle of
September. He was disappointingly vague, however, in calling
the progress "an additional impetus for us on an issue we
will approach this year"-- Macedonia's recognition of Kosovo.


9. (SBU) The Ambassador suggested that Macedonia also focus
on the human dimension of demarcating the border, recalling
previous discussions of plans for practical solutions for the
areas of the border where villagers are concerned about being
able to continue to use land for sheep grazing and other
agricultural pursuits. She suggested that defusing practical
concerns and showing that villagers will not lose their land
or need compensation, but be able to access it, could be a
valuable contribution to the demarcation process. FM
Milososki replied that he had discussed the possibility of
special ID cards for these persons with Minister of Interior
Jankulovska who had been positively inclined. He agreed to
raise the issue directly with the Macedonian JTC when he met
with them later that same day, indicating a direct MoI-MoI
agreement may be the appropriate mechanism.


10. (SBU) Comment: FM Milososki listened to the Ambassador's
concerns about the MoD budget, the passage of the
Parliamentary rulebook in the absence of the opposition, and
the MoI's questionable interactions with the media related to
opposition VP Zaev's arrest, but made no concession that
these present real concerns about Macedonia's NATO readiness.
He made clear the GoM's desire to limit the scope of the
name negotiations, leaving peripheral issues out of any
potential agreement, but did not inspire confidence that
Macedonia will intensify efforts to resolve the issue in the
near term. The most positive outcome was his agreement to
look more closely at practical mechanisms to ensure a
successful border demarcation with Kosovo. End comment.
Milovanovic