VZCZCXYZ0048
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSQ #0594/01 1721134
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 211134Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY SKOPJE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4830
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CDR TF FALCON
RHMFISS/CDRUSAREUR HEIDELBERG GE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUESEN/SKOPJE BETA
RUEHSQ/USDAO SKOPJE MK
RUEHPS/USOFFICE PRISTINA 4079
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SKOPJE 000594 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/SCE, USOP PRISTINA FOR COM GOLDBERG 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/21/2016 
TAGS: PREL PGOV MK
SUBJECT: MACEDONIA: WITH US-EU PRODDING, ETHNIC ALBANIAN 
PARTY LEADERS CALL FOR AN END TO VIOLENT CAMPAIGN INCIDENTS 
 
REF: SKOPJE 420 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Classified By: P/E CHIEF SHUBLER, REASONS 1.5(B) AND (D). 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY. The Ambassador and EU Special Representative 
(EUSR) Fouere convoked the leaders of ethnic Albanian parties 
DUI and DPA for a meeting June 20 to express grave concerns 
over recent violent incidents related to the campaign for 
upcoming parliamentary elections July 5.  They noted that the 
incidents, for which each party has blamed the other, have 
damaged the images of both parties, and of Macedonia, and 
called for an immediate end to them.  If the incidents 
continued, they warned, serious consequences would follow for 
the parties, and for party leaders.  After attempts by DPA to 
deflect blame for the incidents, both leaders agreed to make 
a joint statement to the media (which they did immediately 
after the meeting) calling on followers to refrain from 
further violent acts, and reiterating calls for free and fair 
elections.  The statement received positive coverage in the 
local media and is a welcome first step in halting the 
escalation of violence.  A more important second step, 
however, will require both parties to ensure supporters 
desist from provocative or violent acts.  We and our EU, 
NATO, and OSCE partners will be watching closely for the 
follow through.  END SUMMARY. 
 
VIOLENT CAMPAIGN-RELATED INCIDENTS 
 
¶2. (SBU) The Ambassador and EUSR Fouere convened a joint 
meeting of the leaders of rival ethnic Albanian parties DUI 
(governing coalition partner) and DPA (main eAlbanian 
opposition party) at the Embassy on June 20, following a 
series of violent incidents the previous week, allegedly 
caused by DUI and DPA supporters, that targeted local party 
campaign headquarters (septel).  The incidents marred the 
kickoff of the official campaign season in the runup to 
parliamentary elections July 5, and threatened to escalate 
beyond the capacity of either party to control them.  DUI 
President Ali Ahmeti and VP Teuta Arifi attended, as did DPA 
President Arben Xhaferi and VP Menduh Thaci.  Ambassador was 
joined by DCM and P/E Chief (notetaker); EUSR POLAD Von Konig 
accompanied EUSR Fouere.  NATO HQs Skopje Commander BG 
Durance and POLAD attended as observers.  OSCE HOM Pais was 
out of town, but previously had agreed to support the joint 
US-EU demarche. 
 
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY'S CONCERNS 
 
¶3. (C) The Ambassador outlined the international community's 
(IC) serious concerns about the violent incidents, noting 
that they reflected poorly on both parties and, undeservedly, 
on the wider eAlbanian community in Macedonia.  The 
incidents, which included a June 18 shootout between rival 
gangs affiliated with both parties in the Skopje suburb of 
Saraj, demonstrated a failure of leadership and a lack of 
democratic maturity.  They had to end now.  The heated 
political rhetoric that helped fuel the incidents also had to 
cease. 
 
SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES IF INCIDENTS CONTINUE 
 
¶4. (C) If the parties did not take concrete steps to end the 
incidents immediately, the Ambassador continued, there would 
be serious consequences for the DUI and DPA leadership.  The 
IC would ask the State Electoral Commission to rerun 
elections in areas where DPA and/or DUI violence and 
intimidation had prevented a free and fair vote, and would 
fully support the police in all legitimate actions to protect 
persons and property. 
 
¶5. (C) The IC Principals also were prepared to visit the 
sites of campaign-related violent incidents and to publicly 
denounce the involvement of the parties in such acts or 
provocations.  In addition, we would limit our contacts with 
individuals and the parties known to have encouraged or 
committed violent acts, and would update our consular 
information sheets to warn U.S. citizens about travel to 
areas where such incidents had occurred.  The latter action 
would hurt Macedonia's image, especially in the predominantly 
 
eAlbanian western area, negatively affecting tourism and 
trade prospects there. 
 
¶6. (C) EUSR Fouere added that he had just returned from 
Brussels, where EU officials had expressed concerns about the 
latest developments.  The incidents were giving "ammunition" 
to skeptics who claimed that eAlbanians could not function as 
constructive players in a democratic state, and to skeptics 
of future EU and NATO enlargement. 
 
¶7. (C) Noting the urgency of the situation, Fouere called on 
Ahmeti and Xhaferi to demonstrate real leadership by 
instructing their supporters to end the violence.  If they 
did not, the EU would support the measures the US Embassy was 
ready to take, and also would consider adding names to the EU 
visa ban list.  Senior EU officials, including Javier Solana 
and Enlargement Commissioner Rehn, would "not hesitate to put 
responsibility where it is due." 
 
DUI AND DPA REACTIONS: TAKE RESPONSIBILITY, WITHDRAW FROM 
ELECTIONS, RESIGN, OR BLAME THE POLICE 
 
¶8. (C) DUI's Ahmeti readily agreed to put past incidents 
behind the party and to move forward.  He wanted both sides 
to take responsibility for preventing future incidents.  The 
parties had to avoid the use of violence.  He hoped for a 
free campaign without violent incidents.  If the parties 
jointly assumed responsibility for that outcome, the 
elections would be successful. 
 
¶9. (C) DPA's Xhaferi recounted his view of the history of 
elections in Macedonia since 1994.  He suggested that DPA had 
won some elections fairly and lost others without major 
complaint, contrasting that pattern with DUI's recent 
landslide wins in local elections.  After DUI had won the 
2002 elections, even with what Xhaferi characterized as an 
unrealistically high margin of victory, DPA had bowed out 
without violent resistance and had let Ahmeti constitute the 
government.  DUI, on the other hand, was set on winning every 
election, regardless of how it achieved that goal.  That was 
wrong; Ahmeti's party had to learn how to lose in a democracy. 
 
¶10. (C) Xhaferi proposed two possible solutions for the 
current impasse: DPA could withdraw from the elections and 
"wait for a better time" to compete, or both Xhaferi and 
Ahmeti could resign to show the public that they were 
responsible leaders.  If these incidents were occurring, he 
said, it demonstrated that neither leader was in control of 
his party.  He and Thaci insisted that "the police and secret 
services" were responsible for provoking most of the 
incidents, and that DUI was only partially responsible. 
 
RESTRAIN KOSOVAR ALBANIANS OR GET RID OF THEM 
 
¶11. (C) Responding to Xhaferi, the Ambassador noted that past 
incidents did not justify using similar violent methods in 
the present campaign.  She called on Xhaferi and Ahmeti to 
exercise leadership, noting that difficult challenges called 
for leaders to act constructively and not to withdraw, a 
point Fouere later endorsed.  She also noted that both sides 
were supported by Kosovar Albanians in Macedonia who were 
engaged in violence and intimidation.  Since both parties 
appeared to have reached a "balance of power" with regard to 
such forces, they should either pledge to prevent the Kosovar 
Albanians from taking further action, or ensure that they 
left Macedonia immediately. 
 
¶12. (C) The Ambassador called  on both leaders to make it 
clear to supporters that they should refrain from further 
acts or provocations, and to make a commitment to improving 
the general pre-election climate.  Fouere suggested that 
Ahmeti and Xhaferi both face the media and publicly call for 
an end to violent acts while pledging to redouble efforts to 
ensure free and fair elections. 
 
JOINT STATEMENT CALLING FOR END TO VIOLENT INCIDENTS AND FOR 
FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS 
 
¶13. (C) After some discussion of whether a public statement 
 
would have a real impact on ending the violence (given DPA's 
contention that the violent incidents stem from a conspiracy 
by police to provoke them), both DUI and DPA agreed to a 
joint statement calling for an end to violent incidents.  The 
Ambassador and EUSR subsequently gave a joint statement to 
the local media expressing their grave concern over recent 
developments, pointing out the potential negative 
consequences of such incidents, and calling on all parties to 
work for free, fair and peaceful elections.  Immediately 
after the joint US-EU statement, Ahmeti and Xhaferi included 
similar points in their own joint statement, which received 
extensive, positive local media coverage. 
 
COMMENT 
 
¶14. (C) The concerted IC effort to bring the DUI and DPA 
leaders to their senses appears, for now, to have calmed a 
situation that threatened to escalate after the Saraj 
shooting.  The joint Ahmeti-Xhaferi statement is a welcome 
first step and signal to the public and to DUI and DPA 
supporters, and puts both leaders on record as committing 
themselves to peaceful elections.  A more important next 
step, however, will require DUI and DPA to ensure followers 
desist from further provocative acts, to either expel or 
restrain their Kosovar Albanian "muscle," and to monitor the 
situation on the ground to ensure that any independent, 
spontaneous incidents caused by supporters are quickly 
contained.  We, and our EU, NATO, and OSCE partners, will be 
watching carefully to ensure both sides follow through.  If 
one or both fail to do so, we will take the next step and 
begin putting in place the measures to make operational the 
"serious consequences" we warned Ahmeti and Xhaferi about. 
End Comment. 
MILOVANOVIC