MACEDONIA:GUARANTORS OF FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT

UNCLAS SKOPJE 000414

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

C O R R E C T E D COPY CAPTION
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM MK
SUBJECT: MACEDONIA:GUARANTORS OF FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT
DELIVER ASSESSMENT OF ITS IMPLEMENTATION TO PM GRUEVSKI


1. (SBU) Summary: On the 8th Anniversary of the signing of
the Ohrid Framework Agreement (OFA) the principal officers of
the four international entities that signed the OFA presented
an assessment of its implementation to date to Prime Minister
Nikola Gruevski. The Principals cited education,
decentralization, equitable ethnic representation,
non-descrimination, and use of minority languages as areas
for further implementation. The PM was accompanied by Deputy
Prime Minister for Implementation of the OFA Abdylaqim Ademi
and Deputy Prime Minister for EU Integration Vasko Naumovski
in the meeting. All three were receptive to the review and
admitted that additional efforts were necessary in the areas
highlighted by the four Principals.(End Summary)

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OFA Review
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2. (SBU) In mid-June 2009, Ambassador Reeker, EU Special
Representative Fouere, OSCE Spillover Mission HOM Ambassador
Herrero and NATO HOM Commodore Gagashev-- who meet regularly
as the Principal officers of the four international entities
who signed the 2001 Ohrid Framework Agreement (OFA)-- decided
to conduct a combined, informal evaluation of the OFA's
implementation to date. Following the evaluation the four
Principals agreed to jointly present their findings and
recommendations to Prime Minister Gruevski. (Background- The
OFA established a legal framework for improving interethnic
relations in Macedonia in order to stabilize the country
following the 2001 armed conflict between the ethnic Albanian
National Liberation Army and the Macedonian government.)

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Five Areas for Improvement
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3. (SBU) The evaluation revealed five areas where
shortcomings still exist in implementation of the OFA:
disparities in the education system, decentralization of the
Government, equitable representation of ethnic minorities in
the public sector, non-discrimination policies, and the use
of minority languages. The Principals agreed to divvy up the
five areas and prepare detailed evaluations and
recommendations within their missions to present to the PM.
On August 13, the 8th Anniversary of the signing of the OFA,
the Principals met with the PM, DPM for OFA Implementation
Ademi and new DPM for EU Integration Naumovski to present the
results.

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Integration of Education
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4. (SBU) The OSCE encouraged the PM to promote increased
ethnic integration of the education system, noting a recent
trend in the opposite direction at interethnic schools where
problems and fights have occurred. OSCE Ambassador Herrero
pointed to a four-year strategy for integrating education
recently developed by the Office of the OSCE High
Commissioner on National Minorities as a means for advancing
this goal. The Prime Minister and DPM Ademi both agreed that
education should be used as a tool for integration and the
recent trend of segregating schools in interethnic
communities was detrimental to the end goal of improving
interethnic relations in Macedonia. DPM Ademi noted that the
Ministry of Education was in the process of drafting its
five-year action plan and said it should include strategies
to increase positive multiethnic student interaction.

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Decentralization of Government
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5. (SBU) Citing significant under-funding of municipal
governments and enormous disparities in funding among
municipalities, Ambassador Reeker explained that
decentralization of government finances was crucial to the
OFA because it enabled local governments to more adequately
fulfill their financial responsibilities and meet the needs
of their citizens. He also encouraged the PM to resolve
ongoing issues with state versus municipal ownership of
public lands, which has stifled development and investment in
many municipalities. The PM agreed that municipal funding
was inadequate and said he had met with his Minister of
Finance to discuss ways to increase municipal revenues. He
also noted that the Ministry of Transportation, with USAID
support, was drafting legislation that would better regulate
the use of state land by municipalities. Additionally, he
emphasized that personnel who managed state construction land
should be properly trained in construction land management to
ensure the land is developed legally and efficiently.

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Equitable Representation
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6. (SBU) The EUSR pointed out that it was extremely difficult
to make any sort of accurate assessment on levels of
equitable representation of minority ethnic groups in the
public sector due to a lack of accurate statistics. The EUSR
encouraged the PM and DPM Ademi to create a single,
transparent and reliable system for collecting not just
ethnic employment statistics but overall public sector
employment figures as well, which at times are completely
unavailable or unreliable when they exist. The EUSR also
emphasized the importance of merit based, non-politicized
recruitment of ethnic minorities for public sector jobs and
pointed out that smaller ethnic minorities, such as the Turks
and the Roma, are often overlooked in ethnic minority
recruitment. DPM Ademi acknowledged that data collection was
a particular challenge for his office and agreed with the
need for a unified data collection database. The PM
suggested the establishment of a special commission, which
would include the Ministry of Finance, to quantify the exact
number of public employees. DPM Ademi also noted that one of
his office's primary goals was to increase the ethnic
representation of smaller minority groups.

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Non-Discrimination
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7. (SBU) The Principals praised Macedonia for its
achievements in non-discrimination, specifically noting the
establishment of the Ombudsman's Office to protect human
rights. However, they pointed out that the country still
lacked a clear and consistent anti-discrimination law and
urged the Government to amend the Criminal Code to include
hate crime provisions. They also encouraged the Government
to continue efforts to strengthen the role of the Ombudsman.
The PM concurred that an anti-discrimination law was needed
and claimed the Government intended to complete a draft law
by August 30. He also said he would welcome any suggestions
from the international community on how to strengthen the
Ombudsman's office.

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Use of Minority Languages
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8. (SBU) The Principals acknowledged that a significant step
was taken with the adoption of the law on the use of minority
languages last year, but noted that data on implementation of
the law was limited and ethnic minority populations widely
perceived implementation as lacking. They also noted that
the debate on the use of minority languages had recently
risen to the fore again in Parliament. Additionally, the
Principals pointed out that to some extent, use of language
is a matter of perception and the Government could greatly
improve public perception by making small gestures, such as
government officials using minority languages in portions of
addresses to minority groups. The PM agreed that the
government should create a matrix for assessing the level of
implementation of the law on language, especially in
municipalities where a non-majority ethnicity comprised at
least twenty percent of the population. The PM and DPM Ademi
asserted that they had made efforts to alleviate some of the
debate surrounding the use of the Albanian language in
Parliament but found it challenging to find enough qualified
interpreters and translators to satisfy the needs of the
Parliament and needed to improve training for the
interpreters already working in Parliament.
REEKER