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PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHNO #0603/01 2861316
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 131316Z OCT 06
FM USMISSION USNATO
TO RUEHXP/ALL NATO POST COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHSQ/AMEMBASSY SKOPJE PRIORITY 3264
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0105
INFO RHMFISS/CDR USJFCOM NORFOLK VA
RHMFISS/USNMR SHAPE BE
RUEHNO/USDELMC BRUSSELS BE
RUEKJCS/JCS WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RHMFISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE

C O N F I D E N T I A L USNATO 000603 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/RPM, EUR/SCE, PM 
OSD FOR USDP - - WINTERNITZ/GRAFF 
NSC FOR AINSLEY/SCHWENDLER 
JOINT STAFF FOR J-5/EUROPE AND NATO POLICY - - FOSTER 
USEUCOM FOR ECJ-5/E 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/13/2016 
TAGS: MOPS NATO PARM PGOV PREL MK
SUBJECT: NATO'S POSITIVE REACTION TO MACEDONIA'S ANNUAL 
NATIONAL PROGRAM 
 
REF: SECSTATE 168277 
 
Classified By: DCM Richard G. Olson for reasons 1.4(b)/(d) 
 
¶1.  (C)  SUMMARY.  The NATO Senior Political 
Committee/Reinforced (SPC/R) met with a Macedonian (MK) 
delegation on October 6 to discuss the way ahead for 
Macedonia's eighth Membership Action Plan (MAP) cycle.  The 
Macedonian delegation  presented details of their Annual 
National Program (ANP) for 2006-2007, highlighting the 
success of their most recent elections and emphasizing the 
will of the new government to continue the successes of the 
previous administration in the areas of regional cooperation, 
contributions to NATO operations, and critical domestic 
reforms.  MK asked that a clear message of encouragement and 
timeframe for membership be offered to each individual NATO 
aspirant in the communique of the November 2006 NATO Summit 
at Riga.  The overall atmosphere of the session was positive 
with the majority of NATO Allies praising Macedonia's ANP, 
the high level of public support for NATO membership in 
Macedonia, its stabilizing regional role, its operational 
military involvement outside the region, as well as its 
defense reforms.  Concerns expressed focused on judicial and 
police reforms, organized crime, corruption and equitable 
ethnic representation in the military.  Allies gave various 
responses regarding the Riga communique, with some advocating 
no timeline and emphasizing a performance-based decision and 
others calling for a timeline and roadmap.  END SUMMARY. 
 
MACEDONIAN PRESENTATION 
- - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶2.  (C) A Macedonian delegation led by Ambassador Nikola 
Dmitrov, National Coordinator for NATO Integration, and 
augmented by Mrs. Ljiljana Sterijovska, State Secretary, MOD, 
presented Macedonia's 2006-2007 ANP to the NATO SPC/R on 
October 6.  Ambassador Dmitrov stated that Macedonia had 
proven its political maturity through this summer's 
parliamentary elections.  Though sporadic disruptive 
incidents took place, Macedonia was addressing them through 
the rule of law with 13 criminal indictments filed.  Dmitrov 
said the new MK government sought to continue past successes 
by generating stability at home and abroad.  The government 
would strengthen multi-ethnic relations using the pillars of 
equitable representation and decentralization.  Macedonia 
would continue to take part in all regional initiatives, 
particularly those with the Adriatic-3 (Albania, Croatia and 
Macedonia), and would continue to contribute beyond the 
region with MK's participation in ISAF in Afghanistan (Joint 
Med Team, HQ SEEBRIG, etc.).  Dmitrov informed the committee 
that Macedonia's new MOD is considering revising (reducing or 
withdrawing) the caveats for its troops in ISAF. 
 
¶3.  (C)  On domestic issues, Dmitrov specifically focused on 
judicial reform, the economy and the Law on Police.  He 
stated that new legislation on judicial reform was already 
producing improvement, with the backlog of cases slowly 
decreasing.  The economy, he said, was not progressing well 
so the government would be focusing on reviving growth and 
attracting investors.  The Law on Police was important not 
only for the domestic agenda, but also for the nation's NATO 
aspirations.  The draft law was currently in Parliament and 
the subject of heated debate.  Dmitrov predicted the law 
would be adopted by the end of October.  Regarding NATO's 
upcoming November Summit in Riga, Dmitrov said the communique 
should include a segment on the individual progress of each 
candidate country, an announcement that 2008 would be an 
"enlargement year," and a timeframe for issuing membership 
invitations. 
 
¶4.  (C)  Sterijovska spoke on behalf of the MOD, stating that 
defense reforms were in the final stages of implementation. 
She highlighted progress in achieving greater equitable 
ethnic representation in the Armed Forces, the adoption of 
the Defense and Military Service Laws (ensuring the 
professionalization of the military), and advances in 
training (both in the Officer and NCO Corps).  She noted that 
 
the professionalization of the Macedonian Armed Forces (ARM) 
would be completed a year earlier than planned. 
 
ALLIED REACTION 
 
 
¶5.  (C)  The overall atmosphere of the session was positive 
with interventions from 17 Allies.  The majority of NATO 
nations expressed their support for Macedonia's NATO 
aspirations and emphasized that membership is 
performance-driven.  Comments concerning the Annual National 
Program were also encouraging, although Romania noted it 
would have preferred more information on areas where MK still 
needs assistance.  Slovenia stated it saw significant 
progress from MK's 2005-2006 ANP. 
 
POLITICAL ISSUES 
 
 
¶6.  (C)  Praise came from around the table on Macedonia's 
continued high level of public support for NATO membership 
(close to 90 percent).  The Netherlands and Hungary stressed 
the importance of the new government continuing the reform 
efforts of the previous administration.  Macedonia was also 
encouraged by Allies (UK, GR, IC, NL, US) to pass the Law on 
Police, as well as to persist in reforms in the areas of 
judiciary, organized crime and corruption and strengthening 
the rule of law (GR, RO, IC, NL, US).  Positive comments were 
shared with MK regarding their contributions to stability in 
the Balkans region (RO, FR, NO, HU, SP, PL). 
 
RIGA LANGUAGE 
 
 
¶7.  (C)  Allied comments regarding enlargement language for 
the Riga communique were diverse.  The U.S. said that 
decisions on membership invitations should be based on 
performance and not by any timeline.  Germany stated that MK 
could expect to get a positive signal, but that an invitation 
was performance, not event, driven.  Both Bulgaria and 
Hungary said NATO needed to go beyond repeating "the door is 
open" and provide the aspirants a clear message which 
included individual assessments.  Norway was the most 
far-reaching of the group, stating they would like to see a 
concrete timeline with a roadmap provided to the MAP nations, 
though they also said that performance remains the key. 
 
DEFENSE ISSUES 
 
 
¶8.  (C)  The majority of Allies noted Macedonia's outstanding 
progress in defense reforms.  Norway and Poland praised the 
realism in Macedonia's defense planning while Slovenia stated 
that MK's firm defense plans showed their commitment to 
further progress.  Other comments from Allies emphasized 
Skopje's role as a security provider and acknowledged the ARM 
was headed towards becoming a much leaner force.  All NATO 
nations thanked Macedonia for their contribution to 
operations, acknowledging that ARM forces were becoming more 
interoperable with NATO forces.  MK's efforts to achieve 
equitable ethnic representation in the MOD and Army were also 
addressed with some Allies reinforcing the importance of 
these efforts (US, GM and FR) and others noting they were 
making good progress (TU, UK, PL).  Both France and Germany 
emphasized that the issue of equality for minorities needed 
to be implemented across the entire public sector at all 
levels, not just in the military. 
 
MACEDONIA RESPONDS 
 
 
¶9.  (C)  Ambassador Dmitrov stated that all efforts would be 
made during the next elections to prevent the repetition of 
any disruptive incidents.  He noted, however, that the 
incidents which occurred during the July 2006 elections were 
very isolated events and as such would be difficult to 
completely prevent in the future.  The Ambassador spoke to 
 
the current political situation in the country, noting that 
even though the PM made great efforts to include the two 
largest ethnic Albanian political parties in the government, 
even intense negotiations failed at first due to a high level 
of animosity between the parties.  Only now, after much 
effort, is progress being made and Dmitrov believed politics 
would no longer delay governmental progress.  The Ambassador 
went on to say that NATO membership had become so important 
to MK's leadership that the PM had appointed a National NATO 
Coordinator, reporting directly to the PM on all NATO 
matters.  On the defense side, Sterijovska addressed Air 
Sovereignty and noted the MoD has developed a three-phased 
plan, with the first phase (already funded) being the 
establishment of an Air Surveillance Operations Center to 
provide a shared radar picture with the region and NATO.  The 
second and third phases, procuring modern radars and 
establishing an air policing capability, had not yet been 
funded.  In response to a question concerning military units 
being declared for both NATO and EU use, Sterijovska stated 
that most units belong to the same pool of forces. 
Therefore, if participation was required for both 
organizations, a political decision would determine where to 
deploy the units. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
NULAND