Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09SKOPJE377
2009-08-04 10:19:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Skopje
Cable title:  

MACEDONIA: NEW DEBATE ON USE OF LANGUAGE HEATING UP

Tags:  PREL PGOV PHUM MK 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO4054
PP RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHNP RUEHROV RUEHSL RUEHSR
DE RUEHSQ #0377/01 2161019
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 041019Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY SKOPJE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8440
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE 0545
RUESEN/SKOPJE BETA
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SKOPJE 000377 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/31/2014
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM MK
SUBJECT: MACEDONIA: NEW DEBATE ON USE OF LANGUAGE HEATING UP

Classified By: AMBASSADOR REEKER FOR REASONS 1.5 (b) and (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SKOPJE 000377

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/31/2014
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM MK
SUBJECT: MACEDONIA: NEW DEBATE ON USE OF LANGUAGE HEATING UP

Classified By: AMBASSADOR REEKER FOR REASONS 1.5 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: New Democracy (ND) leader Imer Selmani's
request for more complete implementation in parliament of the
law that outlines the use of minority languages has escalated
to a wider debate in Parliament. An unlikely alliance
between ND and governing coalition partner DUI is now seeking
to force parliament to address the issue, using legislation
critical to EU accession to push their demands through. PM
Gruevski's ruling VMRO and DUI are quietly negotiating a
compromise. Meanwhile, DPA leader Menduh Thaci has drafted a
more expansive language law to replace existing legislation
entirely and turned up his radical rhetoric. The resulting
debate has become heated and divisive. End Summary.


2. (SBU) PM Gruevski invited the leaders of SDSM, DUI, DPA
and ND to a July 25 leaders meeting to discuss EU
integration. It was the first leaders meeting invitation for
ND leader Imer Selmani, who immediately shook things up by
insisting on a more complete implementation of the language
law which was championed by DUI and adopted in July 2008.
ND's MPs have since explained that they want plenary sessions
in parliament to be chaired in Albanian (in addition to
Macedonian) and all written materials in parliament to be
bilingual. DUI MPs have joined forces with ND, insisting
that parliament become completely bilingual. Their joint
proposal calls for these features to be incorporated in the
new law on parliament, passage of which -- prior to September
15 -- is an EU benchmark. Further complicating the matter,
DUI MPs are demanding that adoption of the law on parliament
be subject to a Badinter majority, which requires for a
majority vote in favor of the legislation amongst the ethnic
minority MPs in addition to an overall parliamentary
majority, essentially holding EU progress hostage until their
demands on language are met.


3. (SBU) Not to be outdone, DPA leader Menduh Thaci (who
boycotted the July 25 leaders meeting) is calling for the
current language law to be scrapped completely and has
drafted new legislation which would require use of the
Albanian language in all official contexts throughout

Macedonia. DPA's new draft law on language is basically an
extension of the demands DPA included in its proposed "New
Political Contract on Macedonian-Albanian Relations," which
DPA presented to the public in June as a proposed replacement
for the Ohrid Framework Agreement. The "New Contract" states
that, "Albanians and Macedonians should guarantee official
use of the Albanian language, without abusive segregation."
DPA has threatened to boycott parliament if its "New
Contract" and draft language law continue to be ignored.
Thaci's increasingly inflammatory rhetoric also included
calls this week for future Macedonian governments to have a
dual Prime Minister system, one representing each of the two
largest ethnic groups.


4. (C) According to press, Selmani's request on the use of
language at the July 25 leaders meeting sparked little
initial reaction. All of the leaders agreed after the
meeting that their most important combined objective should
be meeting the benchmarks set forth by the EU. However, the
debate has heated up significantly since, especially
following DUI's threat to vote down the draft Law on
Parliament if it does not contain their amendments on the use
of language. Ruling VMRO party whip Silvana Boneva told the
Ambassador July 29 that she was disappointed with DUI's
actions, insisting that changes on the use of the Albanian
language should not be included in the law and serve only to
damage the EU integration process. An unnamed VMRO official
was quoted in July 30 press reports as saying DUI's stance on
bilingualism in parliament implies the federalization of
Macedonia. The Macedonian Orthodox church has even weighed
in on the debate, publicly requesting that the names of
places in Macedonia no longer be altered from their
Macedonian form. For example, "Skopje" is commonly written
as "Shkupi" in Albanian.


5. (C) PM Gruevski's chief of staff, Martin Protoger, told us
July 31 that a parliamentary working group has been created
to seek a compromise, and asked us to weigh in with both DUI
and ND toward that end. (We are quietly urging all sides to
compromise.) He thought these talks would succeed.
Meantime, the major e-Macedonian opposition party, SDSM, is
sitting this one out, no doubt enjoying the discomfort within
the ruling VMRO-DUI coalition.


6. (C) Comment: ND and then DUI, astutely chose to attach use
of the Albanian language to legislation which the VMRO
leadership is anxious to pass, both to meet EU requirements
and to give parliament a few weeks of summer leave. Both

SKOPJE 00000377 002 OF 002


sides of the ethnic divide have strong sentiments on this
subject. Selmani launched the debate to attract wider
support from the ethnic-Albanian community, figuring he could
rally support by standing up to the government while
simultaneously humiliating DUI by highlighting the
limitations of the law it pushed through last year. DUI
leaders, understanding their predicament, realized they
needed to jump into the debate as well or it would be
portrayed be as weak, creating an uncomfortable DUI-ND
alliance. While displeased, VMRO may be content to use the
debate on language to deflect attention away from the name
issue as the primary barrier to Euro-Atlantic integration.
And of course, this is a perfect grandstanding issue for
Thaci, who is desperately trying to stay politically relevant.
REEKER