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PP RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHSQ #0625/01 1811331
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 301331Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY SKOPJE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4870
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CDR TF FALCON
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/CDRUSAREUR HEIDELBERG GE
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUESEN/SKOPJE BETA
RUEHSQ/USDAO SKOPJE MK
RUEHPS/USOFFICE PRISTINA 4094
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 SKOPJE 000625 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/SCE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/30/2016 
TAGS: PGOV PREL MK
SUBJECT: MACEDONIA: ELECTION CAMPAIGN CALMS; AMBASSADOR 
COUNSELS CONTINUED RESTRAINT 
 
REF: A. SKOPJE 613 
     ¶B. SKOPJE 596 
     ¶C. SKOPJE 594 
 
Classified By: P/E CHIEF SHUBLER, REASONS 1.4(B) & (D) 
 
SUMMARY 
 
¶1. (C) An unspoken agreement to cool things down has taken 
hold in Macedonia after a handful of campaign-related 
incidents, some of them violent and most of them between 
competing ethnic Albania parties DUI and DPA, occurred at the 
beginning of the official parliamentary elections campaign on 
June 15.  The Ambassador and International Community (IC) 
colleagues visited the site of one of the incidents to 
denounce the violence and to call on political leaders to 
restrain their supporters.  In meetings with DUI and DPA 
leaders on June 28, she counseled continued restraint and 
suggested confidence-building measures to avert future 
incidents. 
 
¶2. (C) The latest poll shows an increase in undecided voters, 
and opposition VMRO-DPMNE leading governing SDSM by a solid 
margin. The current lull is a good sign.  The high stakes 
involved, however, make it likely that neither DUI nor DPA 
has ruled out a resort to more extreme methods if that is 
what it takes to win.  End Summary. 
 
CAMPAIGN LULL HOLDS 
 
¶3. (SBU) Following a spate of parliamentary election 
campaign-related incidents, including a clash between 
competing eAlbanian parties that included a brief exchange of 
fire in an area west of Skopje the weekend of June 24-25 (ref 
A), an unspoken agreement to lower temperatures appears to 
have taken hold between eAlbanian parties beginning late the 
evening of June 24.  Although opposition eAlbanian party DPA 
has complained of some minor harassment from DUI (eAlbanian 
governing coalition junior partner) supporters at campaign 
events, general calm has prevailed during the week of June 
¶26. 
 
RASCE VISITS GARNERS NATIONWIDE MEDIA COVERAGE 
 
¶4. (SBU) On June 27, the Ambassador, EU Special 
Representative, OSCE Head of Mission, and UK Ambassador (as 
NATO Contact Embassy Representative) visited the rural 
village of Rasce, west of Skopje, where the June 24 incident 
occurred.  The Ambassador and her IC colleagues each made 
statements before the media condemning the campaign-related 
violence and calling on political leaders to restrain their 
supporters and ensure there were no further incidents.  They 
also expressed cautious optimism that the lull since June 24 
was a positive indication that the situation would remain 
calm through the July 5 election day, and reiterated IC 
support for legitimate police actions to investigate and 
prevent further incidents.  The statements received wide and 
favorable coverage in the Albanian and Macedonian language 
electronic and print media. 
 
AMBASSADOR COUNSELS CONTINUED RESTRAINT 
 
¶5. (C) In separate follow-up meetings with DUI leader Ali 
Ahmeti and DPA leader Arben Xhaferi in Tetovo June 28, the 
Ambassador reiterated her June 20 call on both parties to 
exercise leadership by instructing their supporters to 
exercise restraint in responding to possible provocations 
(ref C).  At the same time, she expressed satisfaction at the 
lack of new incidents since June 24. She also floated with 
both leaders the idea of establishing regular, direct 
communication between the secretaries general of both parties 
(ref A) to better coordinate campaign events to avoid the 
potential for direct confrontations between supporters. 
 
DPA SEES CRUX OF THE PROBLEM IN POLICE/UBK CONNECTIONS WITH 
DUI 
 
¶6. (C) Xhaferi and DPA VP Menduh Thaci argued that the 
 
SKOPJE 00000625  002 OF 003 
 
 
problem was not a lack of communication with DUI, but rather 
the alleged role of the police and Macedonian 
counter-intelligence agency (DBK) in provoking the incidents 
and directly supporting DUI activists.  Thaci added that DUI 
was also using Ibrahim Kelmendi, allegedly a 
"Marxist-Leninist" Kosovar Albanian criminal, and K-Albanian 
criminal fugitive Emrush Suma (with police support) to 
intimidate DPA supporters. 
 
¶7. (C) Xhaferi said the "mentality of ethnic Albanian 
political leaders is to test the morality, and the courage, 
of their political opponents," suggesting that was DUI's 
tactical goal.  Thaci said that the governing SDSM was 
concerned that if DUI did not win enough seats to enter a 
ruling coalition, it would resort to violence to destabilize 
Macedonia.  Even opposition VMRO-DPMNE, according to Thaci, 
believed that if DUI were not included in a future 
government, Ahmeti's party would try to destabilize the 
country. 
 
¶8. (C) The Ambassador countered that other analysts believed 
DPA itself was resorting to violence during the campaign to 
demonstrate its ability to be a destabilizing force if it did 
not receive a post-election invitation to join a future 
government.  That was the wrong tactic to pursue, she said. 
DPA needed to persuade domestic and international observers 
that it was not pursuing such tactics. 
 
 
 
 
DUI SEES MAIN CHALLENGE ON ELECTION DAY 
 
¶9. (C) DUI's Ahmeti said he expected the bulk of problems to 
surface on Election Day, July 5.  He had been spending more 
time trying to restrain his supporters, he said, than 
actually campaigning.  In most parts of western and 
northwestern Macedonia the situation was calm, and likely to 
remain so, but he anticipated DPA provocations in the 
DPA-controlled municipality of Saraj and in the village of 
Tearce, also under DPA control. Citizens wanted the state to 
provide greater security on Election Day to ensure DPA did 
not employ ballot stuffing tactics, Ahmeti said.  Political 
leaders had to take more responsibility for the actions of 
their followers or, failing that, resign. 
 
¶10. (C) Countering DPA's accusations regarding Ibrahim 
Kelmendi (para 6 above), Ahmeti said the Kosovar was simply a 
news correspondent who was harmless.  He also denied that DUI 
figures were trying to intimidate DPA followers.  Instead, he 
said, suspected war criminal and DPA candidate Daut Rexhepi 
(aka Commander Leka) was creating fear among the citizens of 
Tearce, Slatino, and other small villages north of Tetovo. 
 
 
DUI BELIEVES KOSOVAR ALBANIAN ASSISTANCE NOT NEEDED 
 
¶11. (C) Responding to the Ambassador's encouragement not to 
accept outside help for the campaign or Election Day from 
Kosovar Albanians, Ahmeti reiterated his long-standing 
position that he did not need external assistance.  Instead, 
he would ask the GOM for more active police presence at 
polling stations, especially in Saraj and Tearce.  His 
supporters would provide full cooperation with the police in 
preventing or investigating incidents. 
 
DUI READY TO COOPERATE WITH DPA TO AVERT FURTHER INCIDENTS 
 
¶12. (C) Vowing he would take responsibility for preventing 
future incidents, Ahmeti said he was ready to enter into 
dialogue with DPA, but did not know whom to turn to as an 
interlocutor on that side.  He accepted the Ambassador's 
suggestion that the IC (EUMM, OSCE, US Embassy ICITAP) work 
with the Tetovo police chief to plan ways to deconflict the 
major DUI and DPA rallies scheduled for the same day, July 3, 
in Tetovo.  The DUI and DPA secretaries general could then 
coordinate between themselves and the Tetovo police chief to 
discuss steps to avert incidents on July 3.  (NOTE: That 
 
SKOPJE 00000625  003 OF 003 
 
 
process already is underway, with the Tetovo police chief 
today having met with IC reps to discuss preventive measures, 
and the DUI and DPA secretaries general scheduled to meet 
later today with the police chief to coordinate further. END 
NOTE.) 
 
LATEST POLL SHOWS INCREASE IN UNDECIDED VOTERS, OPPOSITION 
LEADS 
 
¶13. (U) A June 24 poll by a local NGO shows that the number 
of undecided voters has risen to over 42 percent, up from 37 
percent in the previous poll.  Most analysts believe the 
number has gone up due to the violent incidents that marred 
the official campaign start.  Of the respondents, 17.3% would 
vote for VMRO-DPMNE; 12.8% for SDSM; 9.6% for DUI; 5.8% for 
DPA; 5.4% for SDSM breakaway party NSDP; and 2.6% for 
VMRO-NP.  VMRO-DPMNE's Nikola Gruevski remains the most 
popular politician, with 17.6% support, followed by DUI's 
Ahmeti (10.3%), and DPA's Xhaferi (7%).  More than 26% of 
respondents said they did not trust any politician, a telling 
figure. 
 
COMMENT 
 
¶14. (C)  Whether the lull in campaign incidents signals the 
quiet before the storm or will last through Election Day and 
afterward is difficult to tell.  DUI, and to a lesser extent 
DPA, seem to have grasped that violent action has only 
limited effectiveness if the other side is ready and able to 
respond, and that it entails significant cost in terms of 
international community reaction (reftels).  That said, the 
high stakes involved (participation in government here 
remains an easy way to dole out jobs in an economy with an 
official unemployment rate of over 37%) will make it tempting 
for both sides to revert to extreme means if they believe 
that is necessary to win on July 5. 
MILOVANOVIC