MACEDONIA: DUI'S AHMETI ON MAY 29 AGREEMENT AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SKOPJE 000059

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/SCE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/23/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL MK
SUBJECT: MACEDONIA: DUI'S AHMETI ON MAY 29 AGREEMENT AND
RETURN OF ICTY CASES

REF: A. 2007 SKOPJE 950

B. 2007 SKOPJE 39

Classified By: POLOFF NEISULER FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D)

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


1. (C) In a January 22 meeting, the Ambassador urged DUI
president Ahmeti not to continue to link resolution of the
two remaining outstanding requirements of the May 29
Agreement between DUI and governing VMRO -- a draft language
law and the social package for victims of conflict (ref A).
The Ambassador made it clear that such linkage would be
outside of the scope of the agreement, but Ahmeti did not
back down.


2. (C) Voicing concern about the even-handedness of the
Macedonian judiciary, Ahmeti argued against the return to
Macedonian jurisdiction of four unindicted ICTY cases
involving eAlbanian suspects (ref B),some of which are DUI
members (including Ahmeti). He insisted that the cases fall
under the country's 2002 Amnesty Law, and therefore should
not be prosecuted in Macedonia. End summary.

LANGUAGE LAW AND VICTIMS OF CONFLICT PACKAGE -- NO LINKAGE
-------------- --------------


3. (C) During a January 22 meeting with eAlbanian DUI
president Ali Ahmeti, the Ambassador reiterated that the two
remaining outstanding requirements of the May 29 Agreement --
a draft language law and a social package for the victims of
the 2001 conflict -- should not be linked (ref A). Praising
the GOM-DUI effort to deal with these issues, the Ambassador
cautioned Ahmeti against asking at this time for more than
the May 29 Agreement provides for. The Ambassador added that
she was confident conclusion of an agreement on the social
package was both achievable and the decent thing to do for
DUI's constituents.


4. (C) Although he clearly had understood the Ambassador's
points, Ahmeti nevertheless ruled out any effort to close the
victims of conflict issue before completing a draft language
law. Ideally, according to him, the law would define the
general parameters for the use of languages in Macedonia.
The Ambassador urged an unconvinced Ahmeti to move away from
such a general approach and to instead focus on the practical
applications of a language law, which could always be amended
in the future.

RETURN OF ICTY CASES - TOO CLOSE TO HOME
--------------


5. (C) Ahmeti raised also the issue of the return to
Macedonian jurisdiction of four ICTY cases dealing with acts
allegedly committed by eAlbanians, many of them DUI leaders
and members, during the 2001 conflict (ref B). Ahmeti wryly
commented that local media with ties to the GOM already were
preparing the public for "sending me to jail." He dismissed
the charges against him, because they had been pressed by
then-Minister of Interior, and ICTY indictee, Boskovski.


6. (C) Furthermore, Ahmeti added that all actions related to
the 2001 conflict were covered by the 2002 Amnesty Law and
should not even be prosecuted in Macedonia. Asked by the
Ambassador if DUI and rival eAlbanian DPA had the same
position on the Amnesty Law, Ahmeti opined that DPA's
self-interest would likely drive it close to DUI's position.
He also noted that the government was not taking any action
to pursue cases related to the mistreatment or disappearances
of ethnic Albanian citizens during the 2001 conflict. Ahmeti
concluded that he did not trust the Macedonian courts to
ensure fair proceedings in any trial related to the four
cases.

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


7. (C) Ahmeti has misjudged his leverage in stubbornly
insisting on linkage between progress on the draft language

SKOPJE 00000059 002 OF 002


law and resolution of the social package for the victims of
the 2001 conflict. PM Gruevski has made it clear that he is
willing to complete the latter, but will not give in to what
he considers excessive DUI demands on the language law. We
will continue pressing Ahmeti to at least accept a victory on
the social package, even if DUI and VMRO are unlikely to come
to closure soon on the draft language law.


8. (C) The return of the ICTY cases is certain to roil the
political waters here, with both DUI and DPA publicly
insisting that the cases are covered by the Amnesty Law,
while the eMacedonian public is likely to clamor for
prosecutions of eAlbanian suspects, especially if eMacedonian
ICTY indictee and former MOI Boskovski is convicted in The
Hague on the war crimes charges for which he currently is on
trial.
MILOVANOVIC