DAS JONES MEETINGS IN TIRANA MAY 7-8, 2009

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TIRANA 000286

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/12/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV KDEM AL
SUBJECT: DAS JONES MEETINGS IN TIRANA MAY 7-8, 2009

Classified By: DCM Stephen Cristina for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (SBU) Summary. On May 7-8, EUR DAS Stuart Jones came to
Tirana to participate in the Adriatic Charter Ministerial
Conference. On the side, he conducted meetings with Albanian
officials. These meetings largely focused on preparations
for the June 28 national elections and the current dispute
between the Government of Albania (GOA) and OSCE's Office for
Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR),centered on
ODIHR's selection of Dame Audrey Glover to head its
observation mission for Albania's elections. The GOA has
strongly objected to Glover's appointment. DAS Jones also
discussed Kosovo, the current GOA tender for medium-lift
helicopters, and our concerns with the head prosecutor in
Durres. End Summary.

ADRIATIC CHARTER CONFERENCE
--------------


2. (U) The conference consisted of a working breakfast, a
one-hour session, and a working lunch. Given the short
duration of the actual conference session, participants
limited themselves to congratulatory remarks and general
support for the expansion of the Charter. All participants
expressed their hope that someday the A-5 would be the A-7,
to include Kosovo and Serbia. NAQQ QQ ` Hoop Scheffer gave
an oia and Croatia a`ave a
concluding speecharliamentary elections
will befree and fair. He expressed his full confidence that
all voters who need an ID card in order to vote will get one
prior to the elections.


4. (C) Turning to the subject of the Audrey Glover as Head
of ODIHR's Election Observation Mission, Berisha argued
vociferously against ODIHR's appointment of Glover, claiming
that Glover is biased and will not give Albania a fair
hearing in any ODIHR election assessment. Berisha expressed
particular anger at Glover's arrival in Tirana, despite the
fact that the GOA had called her appointment "unacceptable"
in a letter to ODIHR shortly before Dame Glover's arrival in
Tirana. (Glover arrived in Tirana May 6, just one day before
DAS Jones). Berisha told DAS Jones that although the GOA
will cooperate with ODIHR, "we will not cooperate with her
(Glover) at all." DAS Jones urged the GOA to accept Glover
as the head of the observation mission, stressing Glover's
professionalism and underlining ODIHR's precedent of never
giving countries the right to veto a head of mission. Jones
said that Europeans would not understand Berisha's position
especially in light of NATO Membership and Albania's desire
to chair the OSCE in 2012. And we wouldn't either. How,
Jones added, did Berisha plan to explain himself to the
Europeans? Berisha paused and said "I am a simple man. I
can only tell them the truth and hope they will understand."
Berisha angrily denounced Glover's performance in the 1996
elections, pointing out her failure to criticize the
opposition Socialist Party (SP) for its boycott of the 1996
elections.


5. (C) In a separate meeting, Foreign Minister Basha echoed
verbatim Berisha's objections, claiming that Glover would not
offer an unbiased evaluation because of her history with
Albania. In a later dinner with DAS Jones, Basha reported on
a meeting he had held earlier in the day with all European
Ambassadors to explain the GOA objections to Glover. He
noted that the Ambassadors' concerns focused mainly on the
precedent it would set with countries like Russia. When Jones
warned that the GOA was making it look like a personal
dispute, Basha admitted that it was personal. Indeed,
Berisha in his anger had even instructed Basha to tell his
foreign counterparts that it was personal.


6. (C) Basha admitted that no matter what the outcome, the
situation was lose-lose for the Government, and for that
reason, it has been keeping the issue quiet and out of the
media. Indeed, Minister of Interior Nishani, present at the
dinner, was unaware of Dame Glover, and to date, there has
only been a few cursory articles announcing Glover's arrival,
but not discussing the dispute at all. Jones noted that
there will be several tripwires which the GOA should consider
carefully - whether Glover will be allowed to meet the
Central Election Committee, whether she would meet the

TIRANA 00000286 002 OF 003


Ministry of the Interior and get its full cooperation, and if
she meets with opposition eeader Edi Rama, but not with
anyone from the ruln*g party. In a show of support, Jones
and Ambasaador Withers also met openly with Glover for coffeQ
at one of the largest hotels.


7. (U) Note. On May 13, the story came out in the press,
including the fact that the Central Election Commission has
refused to meet with Glover. Media reports that an unnamed
EU official allegedly responded, "If the position of Albanian
authorities does not change, then there will be other
official actions by the US as happened in the case of the
lustration law." End Note.

EDI RAMA: BERISHA HAS HURT ALBANIA
--------------


8. (SBU) Tirana Mayor and opposition leader Edi Rama shared
with Jones his views on the upcoming elections. He thanked
Ambassador Withers for his help in resolving the dispute over
ID cards, although he noted that adequate distribution of the
cards will still be a problem. According to Rama, out of
730,000 citizens without passports, there are still 400,000
without IDs and less than two months until the elections.
Rama stressed that a delay of the elections would be in no
one's interest and claimed that his party (SP) has been
organizing groups to get people to register, including
providing busses to application centers.


9. (SBU) When asked about SP's chances in the upcoming
elections, Rama noted that although the DP claims to have
"saved" Albania, it has actually imperiled it by deepening
corruption and by allowing the construction of "dirty"
factories that are polluting the environment. He claimed
that Albanians want to get rid of Berisha. The economy is
hurting average citizens due to the drop in remittances.
Citizens are also unhappy that the high interest rate on the
new loan to finance the budget deficit will raise the cost of
the already scandalously expensive Durres-Kukes road to over
1.5 billion euro. When asked about Zogby International's
recent polls putting DP slightly ahead of SP, Rama angrily
answered that Zogby is biased, and that SP internal polling
shows the SP winning a majority of seats.

PROMOTING STABILITY IN THE BALKANS
--------------


10. (C) DAS Jones also discussed regional affairs with
President Topi, PM Berisha and FM Basha. Topi noted several
recent meetings with his regional counterparts to demonstrate
Albania's efforts to promote stability and improve relations
through dialog. Berisha stated that poor Serbian-Kosovar
relations undermined regional stability and that the Albanian
government was working hard to promote a more positive
approach to the conflict. Basha shared his efforts to
convince governments to recognize Kosovo's independence.
When asked his opinion, Basha stated that he saw South Africa
as the key to winning more African recognitions. He implied
that he had contacts close to the new South African President
Zuma who may be able to win Zuma over to recognition. He
also underlined the importance of recognition from Pakistan.
Basha shared his recent efforts to win over Libyan President
Qaddafi, but said that Qaddafi was still noncommittal. Basha
felt that the next step for Kosovo after winning IMF
membership would be membership in the Council of Europe,
where he felt Kosovo had enough votes in their favor.
Lastly, Basha complained that the Kosovar FM is not nearly
active enough in seeking his own country's recognitions.

SIKORSKY HELICOPTER BID
--------------


11. (SBU) In meetings with Berisha and Defense Minister
Oketa, Jones and Ambassador Withers also inquired about the
Ministry of Defense's current bid for medium-lift
helicopters. Sikorsky is offering its Blackhawk and has
advocacy rights. Also competing are the EU's Eurocopter and
Italy's Augusta-Westland. Berisha assured him that the
procurement process will be "fully transparent and fair," but
that competing Augusta and Eurocopter helicopters were
competitive with Sikorsky, which he found expensive.


12. (SBU) For his part, Oketa reported that the MoD
commission reviewing the tender has returned with several
follow-up questions for the bidders. Oketa has also
requested the NATO Maintenance and Supply Agency (NAMSA) to
send an expert to provide an unbiased assessment, a request
to which NAMSA has responded positively. The MoD will wait
to make a decision until after these two additional steps are
taken.

TROUBLES WITH THE DURRES PROSECUTOR

TIRANA 00000286 003 OF 003


--------------


13. (SBU) Jones also discussed judicial issues with President
Topi and with the Prosecutor General Ina Rama. Topi thanked
the U.S., especially Ambassador Withers, for showing strong
support for the judiciary's independence. (Note. Although
from the same party as Prime Minister Berisha, Topi and his
followers in the Democratic Party (DP) have clashed with
Berisha and his supporters, especially over the independence
of the judiciary, over which Topi has responsibility. End
Note.)


14. (C) The Ambassador also raised with Topi and PG Rama our
concerns about the continued presence of Arjan Ndoja as head
of the Durres Prosecutor's office (see ref). Topi and Rama
agreed to assess the situation and discuss with each other a
resolution.


15. (U) This cable has been cleared by DAS Jones.
CRISTINA