MACEDONIA SUES GREECE IN INTERNATIONAL COURT OF

UNCLAS SKOPJE 000696 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV MK GR NATO EUN SUBJECT: MACEDONIA SUES GREECE IN INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED -- PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Macedonia has filed legal proceedings against Greece in the International Court of Justice (ICJ), claiming that in blocking Macedonia's NATO membership Greece has violated the terms of the 1995 Interim Accord. Proposed press guidance in para. 6 End summary. ¶2. (SBU) FonMin Milososki convoked EU, NATO and OSCE Ambassadors (including Greece's) to inform us that Macedonia filed today (17 Nov) legal proceedings against Greece in the International Court of Justice for violation of the 1995 Interim Accord (IA). Specifically, Macedonia charges that by vetoing Macedonia's NATO membership at the April NATO Summit in Bucharest, Greece is in "gross violation" of Article 11 of the IA, in which Greece undertook not to block Macedonia's membership in international organizations under the country's provisional name, "The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia". ¶3. (SBU) Milososki said that after Bucharest the GoM consulted with (non-governmental) legal experts from the U.S., UK, and France. He emphasized that the filing was only to deal with the alleged violation of Article 11 of the IA; Macedonia was not/not asking for a judgment on the name issue itself. He underscored that the GoM's goal is protecting the IA, and believes this should have no impact on the ongoing UN-brokered name negotiations between Skopje and Athens. "The Nimetz process should continue," he added. ¶4. (SBU) Milososki pointed out that Article 21 of the IA states that any differences between the parties on the Accord -- except having directly to do with the name issue itself -- may be submitted to the ICJ. He added that Macedonia has designated a Croatian legal expert, Budislav Vukas, to serve as ad hoc judge before the ICJ. ¶5. (U) Scanned copies of the filing and the Foreign Ministry's press release will be forwarded to Washington via unclassified email. ¶6. (U) Proposed press guidance. We recommend the Department follow the guidance below, which we intend to use to handle local press inquiries. BEGIN TEXT Q: Do you have a comment on the Macedonian ICJ suit against Greece? A: We have supported the UN process led by Amb. Nimetz and continue to support it. We are disappointed that a resolution has not been found to date. The Macedonia Foreign Minister stated that Macedonia remains committed to the UN process. Q: Do you support the move by the Macedonian government? A: This was a decision by Macedonia, and this is a bilateral issue between Macedonia and Greece. The name issue is for them to resolve. END TEXT REEKER