Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08USNATO32
2008-01-25 17:34:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Mission USNATO
Cable title:  

PM GRUEVSKI DISCUSSES MACEDONIA'S NATO ACCESSION

Tags:  NATO PREL MARR MK 
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O 251734Z JAN 08
FM USMISSION USNATO
TO RUEHSQ/AMEMBASSY SKOPJE IMMEDIATE 3336
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1590
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC IMMEDIATE
INFO RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
C O N F I D E N T I A L USNATO 000032 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/23/2118
TAGS: NATO PREL MARR MK
SUBJECT: PM GRUEVSKI DISCUSSES MACEDONIA'S NATO ACCESSION
PROSPECTS WITH PERMREPS JANUARY 23

REF: A. MACEDONIA MAP PROGRESS REPORT E-MAILED 01/17/08


B. GREEK NAC SPEAKING NOTES (E-MAILED 01/23/08)

Classified By: Ambassador Victoria Nuland for reasons 1.4 (b/d)

SUMMARY
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C O N F I D E N T I A L USNATO 000032

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/23/2118
TAGS: NATO PREL MARR MK
SUBJECT: PM GRUEVSKI DISCUSSES MACEDONIA'S NATO ACCESSION
PROSPECTS WITH PERMREPS JANUARY 23

REF: A. MACEDONIA MAP PROGRESS REPORT E-MAILED 01/17/08


B. GREEK NAC SPEAKING NOTES (E-MAILED 01/23/08)

Classified By: Ambassador Victoria Nuland for reasons 1.4 (b/d)

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

1. (C) Prime Minister Gruevski discussed Macedonia's progress
toward NATO accession with NATO PermReps on January 23,
concluding Macedonia's ninth MAP cycle. He cited recent
strides toward domestic political consensus, minority
representation, decentralization, judicial reform, police
reform, a National Security Strategy, anti-corruption,
economic reform, and efforts to resolve the name issue.
Ambassador Nuland praised Macedonia's progress on the
administrative and judicial reforms, called for pressing home
the fight against corruption, and urging "both sides" to be
flexible on the name issue. In a long, toughly worded
intervention sent from Athens, the Greek cast doubt on
Macedonia's meeting NATO criteria across the board. Most
Allies recognized Macedonia's contributions to NATO-led
operations and its progress toward MAP objectives, but called
for continued effort. Gruevski expressed optimism that
Macedonia would make the cut, and that a solution could be
found to the name issue. End Summary.

ENDING THE NINTH MAP CYCLE
--------------

2. (C) Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, accompanied
by D/PM Aliu, FM Milososki, DefMin Elenovski, name negotiator
Dimitrov, and Macedonia's two Ambassadors based in Brussels,
met with NATO PermReps on January 23 to discuss Macedonia's
Membership Action Plan (MAP) progress report (REF A). This
discussion concluded Macedonia's ninth MAP cycle, and was
Skopje's best opportunity to convince Allies of its readiness
to receive an invitation at NATO's April Summit to join the
Alliance.

MAKING MACEDONIA'S CASE
--------------

3. (C) Gruevski presented his government's record on meeting
MAP criteria, stressing that Macedonia had "no alternative"
to NATO membership, which was supported by all political
parties and 90 percent of the population. He argued that

Macedonia's perseverance through nine MAP cycles proved
Macedonia's dedication and its contributions to NATO-led
operations proved its loyalty. Anticipating questions about
the sustainability of reforms implemented in months leading
up to the Bucharest Summit, he insisted that reforms were
irreversible and would continue beyond the Summit and beyond
accession to the Alliance as well, as "there is always more
to achieve." He detailed in turn progress on domestic
political consensus-building, minority representation,
decentralization, judicial reform, police reform, a National
Security Strategy, anti-corruption, economic reform, and
"good-neighborly relations" (a MAP criterion that Greece has
cited as requiring a solution to the name issue). Gruevski
acknowledged that work remained to be done on the language
law and on compensating the victims of 2001 violence (the
toughest demands of Macedonia's Albanian minority).

THE GOOD NEIGHBOR CRITERION
--------------

4. (C) Greek Ambassador Stamatoupoulos made clear that Athens
did not consider Macedonia's performance adequate to merit an
invitation to NATO. His intervention (REF B) acknowledged
"encouraging signs of progress in a number of specific
fields," but only at a moderate pace and under international
pressure, raising questions about its sustainability. He
called on Skopje to reach accommodation with the largest
Albanian party DUI and to carry out further administrative
and judicial reforms; expressed concern about Macedonia's
high rate of unemployment, and stressed the need for "full
compliance with obligations... primary among them good
neighborly relations." He cited the MAP report and UNSCRs
817 and 845 as calling on Macedonia to resolve the name issue
"in the interest of the maintenance of peaceful and good
neighborly relations in the region." Bulgarian Ambassador
Ivanov also urged "a new way of thinking about good
neighborly relations," to pay more attention to neighbors'
sensitivities as well as being an active participant in
regional fora. Ivanov also expressed concern that direct
quotes from classified NATO documents had found their way
into the Macedonian media. (NOTE: the Bulgarians explained
to us after the NAC that quotations from the MAP report had
been printed in the January 21 "Utrinski Vesnic.")

SPRINT TO THE FINISH
--------------


5. (C) Ambassador Nuland offered condolences on the death of
eleven Macedonian peacekeepers returning from the Althea
mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina "as part of the sacrifices
Macedonian soldiers are making for our common peace and
security." She praised Macedonia's progress on the
administrative and judicial reforms that the U.S. interagency
team had recommended in Skopje ten weeks earlier. She called
on Gruevski to press forward on corruption prosecutions and
implementing recent legislation, and sprint to Bucharest.
Noting that the President supported "the largest possible
merited enlargement" at the NATO Summit, she urged "both
sides" to be creative and flexible in the ongoing
Greek-Macedonia name talks under UN auspices, and solve this
long-festering issue "now."

ALLIES DIVIDED
--------------

6. (C) Twenty other Allied PermReps intervened. Most noted
appreciation for Macedonia's contributions to NATO-led
operations and acknowledged considerable progress on its MAP
objectives, but Allies were clearly divided as to the
sufficiency of this progress. Slovenia, Turkey, Poland,
Lithuania, Latvia, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Estonia,
Iceland, and Portugal signaled that they would likely support
an invitation to Macedonia at the summit. Beside the U.S.,
Italy, Spain, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Romania, Norway, France,
and Portugal all emphasized the imperative of reaching
agreement with Greece on the name. Italy (speaking for Spain
and France as well, although their Ambassadors were present),
said that "efforts to reach agreement are not enough," an
actual solution was essential. Slovenia, the UK, Turkey,
Poland, Latvia, Slovakia, Estonia, and the Netherlands
pointedly made no mention of the name issue.

OPTIMISM ABOUT A NAME
--------------

7. (C) Gruevski responded effectively to most questions. He
pointed out that government funding for local administration
had tripled, and that now a majority of municipalities
controlled their own budgets. He said that reforms were
irreversible, as government planning went well beyond 2008,
and would not be dropped whatever the outcome of the NATO
Summit. Addressing Greece's critique, he said that the name
was "the only serious issue" between them and promised to
"double our efforts" to reach accommodation. Agreeing with
Ambassador Nuland on the need to make the most of UN mediator
Nimetz's efforts to find agreement on the name issue, he
expressed optimism, concluding "I believe we will come to a
solution."
NULAND