MACEDONIA OFFERS EXPANDED CBM'S TO GREECE ON NAME

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SKOPJE 000048

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

STATE FOR EUR/SCE, IO/UNP

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV NATO GR MK
SUBJECT: MACEDONIA OFFERS EXPANDED CBM'S TO GREECE ON NAME
DISPUTE

REF: A. SKOPJE 21 & PREVIOUS

B. EMBASSY FAX TO EUR/SCE 1/22/07

C. SKOPJE 32

SKOPJE 00000048 001.2 OF 002


SUMMARY


1. (SBU) During bilateral talks on the name issue in Ohrid
January 21, Macedonia offered Greece an expanded set of
confidence-building measures (CBMs),including a joint
committee to review and update historical textbooks; proposed
high-level and working-level meetings and agreements on a
range of issues, including double taxation, science and
technology, and cross-border cooperation; and a "joint
declaration of friendship and good-neighborliness," in which
both sides would reaffirm their commitment to the 1995
Interim Accord and Macedonia would reiterate its earlier
renunciation of territorial claims and support for Greece's
territorial integrity. The Greek side has not yet officially
responded to the offer, but its public reaction has not been
encouraging. We view the Macedonian offer as a constructive
move to improve the bilateral atmosphere by demonstrating
practical goodwill. Macedonia also hopes to gain greater
tactical flexibility in the name talks with Greece as the
NATO summit in Bucharest approaches. End summary.

OFFER OF EXPANDED CBM'S IN THE CONTEXT OF NAME TALKS
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2. (SBU) FM Milososki briefed selected ambassadors (U.S., UK,
Netherlands, Spain, France, Slovenia) and an EUSR
representative January 21 on Macedonia's proposal to Greece
to expand confidence-building measures in the context of the
name dispute. Noting that the proposal had been presented to
Greece's name negotiator during the bilateral meeting taking
place the same day in Ohrid under the auspices of UN Special
Negotiator Nimetz (ref A),Milososki briefly ran through the
highlights of the three-part proposal, which was provided to
each ambassador as a non-paper (ref B). Milososki
underscored that the proposal had not yet been commented on
by the Greek side, but said Nimetz would brief PM Gruevski
and President Crvenkovski the evening of January 21 on any
progress in the name discussions in Ohrid, and Milososki
expected the Greek side to have reacted to the CBM proposals
by then. Local press on January 22 reported that Greek
negotiator Vassilakis, responding to the CBM proposal, had
hewn to the Athens line of insisting on progress on the name
dispute before tackling CBMs. Local press also reported that
Nimetz was satisfied with the outcome of the Ohrid round of
talks, characterizing it as "one of the best so far."

JOINT COMMITTEE TO REVIEW & UPDATE HISTORICAL TEXTS
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3. (U) The proposal envisions setting up a Greek-Macedonian
Joint Committee on Education and History, comprised of
academics and history teachers, to review primary and
secondary education history textbooks in use, as well as
texts used in the military academies of both countries. A
representative appointed by Ambassador Nimetz, as well as one
from the Thessaloniki-based NGO Center for Democracy and
Reconciliation in Southeast Europe, would observe the
proceedings.


4. (U) The Ministers of Education of both countries would
convene a conference to discuss the Joint Committee's
recommendations, after which the two sides would produce a
joint report. Upon endorsing the joint report, the Greek and
Macedonian governments would call upon relevant educational
institutions to update the textbooks and incorporate
curriculum materials based on the joint report.


5. (SBU) Comment: This proposal would respond to perennial
Greek complaints, which we have never been able to confirm,
that Macedonian textbooks promote an irredentist agenda. Our
own reviews of Macedonian textbooks, including those cited in
Greek complaints, have uncovered no evidence of irredentist
texts or illustrations, either in primary or high school
material, or in military academy texts. End comment.


SKOPJE 00000048 002.2 OF 002


FRAMEWORK PROPOSAL FOR ADVANCING BILATERAL RELATIONS
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6. (SBU) The second part of the proposal consists of a
two-stage "framework" for advancing bilateral relations. In
stage one, to be conducted between January and April 2008,
the two sides would adopt a "Declaration of Friendship, Good
Neighborliness, and Cooperation;" sign a Double Taxation
Avoidance Treaty, the text of which already has been
coordinated, according to the MFA; and open an additional
border crossing to further facilitate trade and tourism.


7. (SBU) Stage two of the "framework" would consist of
additional activities "to be realized in the course of the
year." Those would include bilateral presidential and prime
ministerial summits once every two years, foreign ministerial
bilats annually, and annual meetings of the presidents of
parliament and the respective foreign affairs committee
members. In addition, the two sides would agree on
additional ministerial and sub-ministerial level meetings
across a range of issues, including justice, environment, and
tourism. They also would aim to conclude agreements on local
border traffic, science and technology exchanges, health, and
other issues. To further promote regional cooperation, the
"framework" includes a proposal for annual trilateral
meetings of the MFAs of Macedonia, Greece, and Albania.

MACEDONIA REITERATES "NO TERRITORIAL CLAIMS"
--------------


8. (SBU) The key substantive innovation in the package of
CBM's is a proposed "Declaration of Friendship,
Good-Neighborliness, and Cooperation Between the Hellenic
Republic and Macedonia" (details of which leaked to the press
shortly after the Foreign Minister's briefing.) In addition
to both sides reaffirming their intent to abide by the terms
of the 1995 Interim Accord, Macedonia would reiterate its
earlier pledge, enshrined in its Constitution, that "it does
not have and will never have any claims to any territory
outside its internationally-recognized borders and in this
context fully supports the territorial integrity of the
Hellenic Republic." The Declaration also would incorporate
references to the activities envisioned under the "framework
proposal for advancing bilateral relations," as described
above. In addition, it would mandate the setting up of a
joint Greece-Macedonia fund, which would be used to finance
projects of mutual interest, including in the fields of youth
development, cross-border cooperation, and science and
technological development.

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


9. (SBU) Despite Greek resistance to discussing CBMs in the
absence of progress on the substance of the name dispute, the
Macedonian side is pressing ahead with this three-part
initiative to attempt to improve the bilateral atmosphere, as
well as to offset perceptions that its adherence to the "dual
name" proposal on the name (ref A) is the cause for the
current inertia in the name discussions. The GOM initiative,
which contains several constructive proposals, is designed to
give the Macedonians more substance for negotiating with the
Greeks,, and thus more flexibility. It also is designed to
demonstrate goodwill toward its southern neighbor in the
lead-up to the NATO summit in April, when Macedonia hopes to
avoid a potential Greek veto of a prospective NATO membership
invitation if the two sides are unable to resolve the name
issue by then (ref C).
MILOVANOVIC