MACEDONIA: THE RETURN OF "BRAT LJUBE" BOSKOVSKI

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SKOPJE 000748

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT ALSO FOR INR/B

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/10/2018
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL MK
SUBJECT: MACEDONIA: THE RETURN OF "BRAT LJUBE" BOSKOVSKI

Classified By: Ambassador Reeker for reasons 1.5 (b) and (d).

Summary
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1. (C) Former Interior Minister (and ICTY indictee,
acquitted) Ljube Boskovski appears ready to return to
politics, most likely as a candidate for president in March
elections. He claims to be fully committed to Euro-Atlantic
integration and to a multi-ethnic Macedonia. Boskovski
asserted that he strongly supports reaching a compromise on
the name dispute with Greece ASAP, "as long as our identity
is protected." He is fully aware of his bad reputation among
the international community, and seeks our approval or at
least that we do not condemn his return to politics. End
summary.

He's Back
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2. (C) P/E Chief met Dec 10 with former Interior Minister
Ljube Boskovski at his request to discuss Boskovski's
political plans. Boskovski triumphantly returned to
Macedonia in July from The Hague, where he was acquitted of
war crimes allegedly committed during the 2001 conflict.
Boskovski and fellow-indictee Johan Tarculovski (who was
convicted and sentenced to 12 years, currently under appeal)
are causes-celebre among nationalist e-Macedonians,
especially PM Gruevski's VMRO-DPMNE.


3. (C) However, Boskovski seems eager to distance himself
from Gruevski and forge his own path. He spoke glowingly of
his own "overwhelming" popularity, and made it clear he plans
to enter politics, likely as a candidate in presidential
elections in March 2009. Boskovski apparently intends to
strike while the iron is hot, noting that political
popularity ratings in Macedonia are volatile and he needs to
make a move as soon as possible. With parliamentary
elections likely about four years away, the presidential race
seems like his closest chance. Boskovski has been touring
the country and speaking to relatively large crowds in a
clear bid to get back into politics.


4. (C) Should he run, Boskovski said, he will do so as an
independent, not for VMRO (even if asked, which he sees as
unlikely in any case). Despite VMRO's apparent popularity,
he claimed that he would win 80% of VMRO's votes, especially
if -- as many expect -- VMRO runs Deputy PM Zoran Stavreski.

The Politics of Brotherhood...
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5. (C) Boskovski does not so much present himself as a
changed man as one who was never understood. He claims to
have always enjoyed good relations with e-Albanians and to
support a multi-ethnic Macedonia. Boskovski -- known as
"Brat Ljube" (Brother Ljube) -- hails from Celopek, a village
near Tetovo with a mixed population. He claims that
e-Albanians in Skopje's Bit Pazar and other places have
greeted him warmly, asked for photos, etc. He said he has
met with representatives of Menduh Thaci's DPA and New
Democracy's Imer Selmani, and even had a cordial chance
encounter with DUI minister Musa Xhaferi and MP Ermira
Mehmeti. He anticipates that his candidacy would draw many
Albanian votes.

...And Euro-Integration
--------------


6. (C) Boskovski presented himself to us as the candidate of
Euro-Atlantic integration. He asserted that Macedonia has no
future except in NATO and the EU, and criticized Gruevski for
refusing to compromise on the name dispute with Greece.
Boskovski told us that crowds have been receptive to his
argument that Macedonia can accept a name such as North
Macedonia to replace FYROM, "as long as our identity (as
Macedonians) is protected."

Seeking International Approval
--------------


7. (C) Boskovski openly sought our approval for his
presidential bid. He appeared to understand that he was in
the bad graces of the international community, both because
of his role in the 2001 conflict but also what he called the
"horrible events" of March 2002 at Rastanski Lozhia, where
seven South Asians were killed by Boskovski's Interior
Ministry forces. Boskovski at the time claimed the men were

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Islamist terrorists plotting to attack the U.S. Embassy, but
the evidence seems to indicate that these were merely illegal
migrants transiting the country and set up as "terrorists"
and killed in order to please the U.S. in the war on terror.
Boskovski told us that MOI intel had told him the men were
terrorists and that he believed this to be the case at the
time, though now he apparently understands this was not so.


8. (C) In an effort to reach out to the international
community, Boskovski told us he had met the UK, Turkish, and
Bulgarian ambassadors. He plans to travel to Slovenia and
Albania, where he plans to meet President Topi and PM
Berisha. When we said we were not in the business of
endorsing presidential or any other candidates in Macedonia,
Boskovski responded that all he asked was that we did not
speak out against him. He asserted that a Boskovski
presidency would hurt Macedonia only if the country faced
international isolation because of who he was, and that if
this were to be the case he would not run.

Comment: Macedonia's Next President?
--------------


9. (C) It is clear that PM Gruevski believes that Boskovski
is a political threat, despite having so firmly supported
Boskovski during his detention in The Hague and accompanying
him home to adoring crowds at Skopje's airport. Gruevski's
chief of staff, Martin Protoger, told us recently that
Boskovski is behind a group of families of e-Macedonian dead
and disabled from the 2001 conflict demanding a huge social
benefits package. Protoger made it clear that VMRO cannot
control Boskovski and finds him worrisome.


10. (C) We will quietly take the temperature here of both
e-Albanians and e-Macedonians toward Boskovski as we continue
to size him up. Like a number of now-mainstream politicians
from both main ethnic communities, Boskovski is barred from
travel to the U.S. for activities related to the 2001
conflict. We need to consider carefully how to deal with his
return to public life, especially if he becomes Macedonia's
next president.
REEKER