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PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
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DE RUEHSQ #0539/01 1871337
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 061337Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY SKOPJE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6251
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUESEN/SKOPJE BETA
RUEHSQ/USDAO SKOPJE MK
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SKOPJE 000539 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/SCE AND EUR/RPM 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV NATO MK CR AL
SUBJECT: MACEDONIA: ADRIATIC CHARTER & NEW PFP MEMBERS 
ADDRESS BALKANS SECURITY ISSUES, NATO ENLARGEMENT ON JUNE 28 
 
REF: SKOPJE 533 
 
SUMMARY 
 
¶1. (SBU) During an Adriatic Charter (Albania, Croatia, 
Macedonia) Partnership Commission in Ohrid June 28, USNATO 
Ambassador Nuland urged the A-3 aspirant countries to: 
accelerate progress on NATO reforms, demonstrate and describe 
their readiness for membership in demarches to other NATO 
Allies, and accept that there would be no "package approach" 
to membership decisions.  She encouraged the three new PfP 
countries (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia) to 
consider contributing to NATO operations, pursuing 
International Partnership Action Plans (IPAP), and sending 
Military Liaison Officers to the Partnership Coordination 
Cell at SHAPE. 
 
¶2. (SBU) The A-3 members highlighted the considerable 
progress they had made in meeting NATO standards, but 
accepted that there was a lot to do and little time in which 
to complete remaining reforms required for membership.  The 
new PfP members said they were taking steps to move toward 
full PfP participation (requiring Serbia to submit a 
Presentation Document and all to conclude Security 
Agreements, and then moving on to NATO training and 
interoperability tools) and that they hoped to join the 
Adriatic Charter to enhance mutual cooperation and regional 
stability.  End summary. 
 
A-3 PARTNERSHIP COMMISSION MEETS 
 
¶3. (U) Macedonia chaired a meeting of the Adriatic Charter 
Partnership Commission in Ohrid on June 28, in the runup to 
the NATO EAPC Security Forum held in the same town on June 
¶29.  The meeting was the last A-3 event chaired by Macedonia, 
which passed the reins to Croatia on July 1.  Attending the 
first segment of the two-part session were delegates from the 
U.S. (USNATO Ambassador Nuland and Ambassador Milovanovic); 
NATO Deputy SecGen Minuto Rizzo; Albania (FM Lulzim Basha); 
Croatia (FM Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic and MOD Berislav 
Roncevic); and Macedonia (FM Milososki and MOD Elenovski). 
Attending the expanded session, in addition to the A-3 
delegates, were new PfP Partners Bosnia and Herzegovina (MOD 
Selmo Cikotic), Montenegro (MOD Vucinic), and Serbia (D/FM 
Georgevic standing in for FM Jeremic, who arrived later from 
a Council of Europe session in Strasbourg). 
 
A-3 WORKING TO MEET NATO STANDARDS 
 
¶4. (SBU) NATO Deputy SecGen Minuto Rizzo noted the progress 
the A-3 members have made since the charter was signed in 
2003 which had, he emphasized, helped its members develop 
"habits of cooperation." He urged the A-3 to take advantage 
the next MAP cycle and to make "the last effort" to ensure 
they were strong candidates for NATO membership at the next 
NATO summit.  Albanian FM Basha replied that NATO and the US 
had sent strong public signals of support for the A-3 
aspirants, as well as indicating clearly steps the aspirants 
still had to take to strengthen their candidacies.  He noted 
that Albania had formed a bi-partisan committee to focus on 
NATO membership-related legislation, had drafted an action 
plan on NATO membership, and had formed a committee on 
electoral reform to further the country's NATO candidacy. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Croatian FM Grabar-Kitarovic focused on her 
government's recent successes in combating corruption, 
including recent arrests in a privatization-related 
corruption case.  She also pointed to the government's 
success in boosting public support for Croatia's NATO 
membership bid, with over 50 percent of the public now 
consistently supporting membership.  She highlighted 
Croatia's contributions to ISAF operations in Afghanistan, 
adding that force levels would increase from the current 
deployment of 200 troops to 300 in 2008.  The government also 
hoped to boost military spending to 2 percent of GDP by 2010. 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) FM Milososki outlined progress Macedonia has made in 
strengthening political consensus, and noted the strong 
support for Macedonia's NATO membership bid that had been 
reflected in a recent parliamentary resolution on NATO.  The 
 
SKOPJE 00000539  002 OF 002 
 
 
government would step up its efforts to combat corruption and 
trafficking in persons, he said.  Milososki acknowledged that 
there still was a long road ahead for the three NATO 
aspirants.  MOD Elenovski noted progress the country has made 
on defense reforms, and said the MOD was working to improve 
the ethnic balance in the armed forces. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Ambassador Nuland praised the A-3 for the progress 
they have made since 2003, but urged them not to rest on 
their laurels -- there was still much for them to do. 
Croatia had to stay focused on boosting public support for 
NATO membership, Albania was still "on the cusp" of 
demonstrating democratic maturity with its Presidential 
selection process under way.  Macedonia had to continue 
working to strengthen its democratic institutions and 
demonstrate progress in addressing ethnic minority concerns. 
She said a USG interagency team would visit the aspirant 
countries in early November to review their progress and 
would then begin formulating recommendations regarding which 
of the countries were ready for membership.  The U.S. was 
only one of 26 Allies, however, and each A-3 country would 
need to lobby other Allies for support.  Ambassador Nuland 
also stressed that there would be no "package approach" to 
membership -- each aspirant would be judged on its own 
merits. 
 
NEW PFP COUNTRIES -- MOVING TOWARD FULL MEMBERSHIP 
 
¶8. (SBU) The new PfP country delegates said that they hoped 
to complete the accession process to full Partnership in the 
next several weeks.  They expressed their desire to join the 
Adriatic Charter in order to further enhance their 
cooperation and regional stability.  The Serbian Deputy FM 
focused on Kosovo as the nation's top priority, along with 
making progress on Euro-Atlantic integration goals, enhancing 
cooperation with the ICTY, lowering Serbia's unemployment 
rate, and tackling crime and corruption more effectively. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Ambassador Nuland noted that the Riga Summit 
decision to offer PfP to the new members had been "historic," 
and urged the three countries to consider joining in NATO-led 
operations.  She also urged them to think about concluding 
IPAPs, and about assigning Liaison Officers to SHAPE.  NATO 
membership criteria could be used by each country, she said, 
to strengthen internal reform processes. 
 
KOSOVO STATUS -- NEED TO BE CLEAR ABOUT THE OUTCOME 
 
¶10. (SBU) Macedonian FM Milososki said that any resolution of 
the Kosovo status question should contribute to stability in 
the region.  He added that "final status would be better than 
the status quo," but warned against unilateral steps by any 
party.  Albanian FM Basha noted that further delays in moving 
ahead on Kosovo status would have a negative impact on peace 
and security in the region.  The Ahtisaari plan would, he 
added, "help us all face in the same direction" and ensure 
that the will of the peoples in the region was carried out. 
 
¶11. (SBU) The Serbian MFA representative said his country 
wanted more time for continued discussions with Kosovo.  NATO 
and the UN should "not underestimate Serbia's ability to 
compromise" and reach a solution acceptable to both sides. 
Ambassador Nuland pushed back, saying that any extension of 
talks had to be conditioned on the understanding that the end 
result of those discussions would be supervised independence. 
 
¶12. (U) This cable has been cleared by USNATO and EUR/RPM. 
MILOVANOVIC