VZCZCXRO2898
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHSQ #0941/01 3380902
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 040902Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY SKOPJE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6765
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE 0111
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUESEN/SKOPJE BETA
RUEHSQ/USDAO SKOPJE MK
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 2150
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SKOPJE 000941 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/SCE, USNATO FOR AMBASSADOR NULAND 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV NATO MK
SUBJECT: MACEDONIA: POLITICAL BREAKTHROUGH ON NATO TASKS 
 
REF: SKOPJE 919 
 
SUMMARY 
 
¶1. (SBU) During a quadripartite meeting on November 30, 
government and opposition leaders reached agreement on 
several key agenda items relevant for NATO membership.  On 
December 3, the parties followed through in the Parliament, 
passing in quick order the Law on the Parliamentary 
Inter-ethnic Relations Committee, the Law on the Public 
Prosecutor, and the Law on the Council of Prosecutors. 
During the November 30 meeting, the parties also moved toward 
completion of the State Judicial Council, another 
NATO-related task.  In the meantime, the government reacted 
quickly to extinguish two brushfires related to the name 
dispute with Greece.  The message delivered by USNATO 
Ambassador Nuland during her early November visit to Skopje, 
and by other high-ranking USG and NATO officials since then, 
has gotten through; political leaders are giving up some of 
their partisan interests to focus on the urgent tasks 
required to earn Macedonia a NATO membership invitation by 
the 2008 Bucharest Summit.  End summary. 
 
PULLING THE RABBIT OUT OF THE HAT -- POLITICAL CONSENSUS ON 
NATO TASKS 
 
¶2. (SBU) Following the Ambassador's round of meetings with 
government and opposition leaders to focus them on NATO 
membership tasks the week of November 26 (reftel), PM 
Gruevski convened the leaders of governing VMRO and DPA, and 
opposition SDSM and DUI, on November 30 to hammer out a 
political compromise that would move Macedonia's NATO bid 
forward.  Meeting in a "constructive, positive atmosphere," 
according to PM Gruevski's Chief of Staff, the four leaders 
agreed to several key agenda items, surprising local analysts 
who expected the talks to end in disagreement and discord. 
 
SUPPORT FOR PASSAGE OF INTER-ETHNIC COMMITTEE LAW 
 
¶3. (SBU) DUI President Ahmeti, reacting to the Ambassador's 
phone call to urge flexibility earlier that day, agreed to 
vote in support of the draft law on the parliamentary 
Inter-ethnic Affairs Committee (IEC), and to accept VMRO's 
proposal to include in the legislation 45 laws that would 
require a Badinter vote to amend, and language pledging to 
approve by Badinter vote any future law dealing with the use 
of language.  The other leaders also agreed to support the 
IEC law, and VMRO pledged to reconstitute the Inter-ethnic 
Affairs Committee after the law was passed, meeting a key DUI 
and NATO-related demand. 
 
GOVERNMENT'S CONCESSION ON PUBLIC PROSECUTOR LAW 
 
¶4. (SBU) PM Gruevski, showing uncharacteristic willingness to 
compromise with the opposition, agreed to SDSM's proposed 
language on the draft Law on the Public Prosecutor.  The 
parties agreed to pass that law at the next plenary session 
of Parliament, as well as the draft Law on the Council of 
Prosecutors, both essential pieces of Macedonia's judicial 
and rule of law reform strategy. 
 
PROGRESS TOWARD COMPLETION OF STATE JUDICIAL COUNCIL 
 
¶5. (SBU) In addition to substantial progress on legislative 
items, the parties moved closer to a solution that would 
complete the State Judicial Council.  Following DPA President 
Thaci's meeting with the Ambassador, DPA agreed -- grudgingly 
-- to accept the candidate earlier proposed by President 
Crvenkovski (reftel).  VMRO asked "for another week or so" to 
build intra-party consensus for the SJC candidate, although 
the party continued to argue that Crvenkovski's candidate, an 
ethnic Bosniak, technically was ineligible for the position 
(a position the OSCE mission here has rejected in a 
compelling legal analysis).  Gruevski's Chief of Staff told 
us he was optimistic the SJC would be fully constituted by 
the end of the year. 
 
LEGISLATIVE FOLLOW-THROUGH -- HERE'S THE BEEF 
 
¶6. (SBU) During a parliamentary plenary session December 3, 
the parties followed through, passing in short order the IEC 
 
SKOPJE 00000941  002 OF 002 
 
 
Law and the Law on the Public Prosecutor.  The MPs also 
passed the Law on the Council of Prosecutors.  The Public 
Prosecutor Law passed with a Badinter (qualified majority) 
vote, reflecting the broad consensus reached during the 
November 30 meeting. 
 
MANAGING THE NAME ISSUE -- "NO F.Y.R.O.M. ON CUSTOMS 
DOCUMENTS..." 
 
¶7. (SBU) During the same week (November 26-30), the 
government had to react quickly to extinguish two potential 
complications in managing the name issue with Greece.  First, 
the Director of Customs issued a public statement explaining 
that paperwork for cargo transiting or destined for Macedonia 
had to use the country's constitutional name or the UN 
designation (the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia), but 
not the abbreviation "F.Y.R.O.M."  That decision mostly 
affected Greek shippers, who complained to the Customs 
Office.  We weighed in with MFA officials and with the 
Customs Director, urging them not to allow a technical matter 
to escalate into a political dispute with Athens.  The 
following day, the Finance Minister publicly disavowed the 
Customs Director's action, explaining that such a decision 
could not be reached below the cabinet level. 
 
...LICENSE PLATES AND THE NAME 
 
¶8. (SBU) Almost simultaneously, the Ministry of Interior 
announced plans to issue a new automobile license plate, 
effective January 2008, that would feature "Macedonia" and 
the UN-standard "MK" on the plate. The MOI claimed it was 
following EU standards.  The move proved unpopular among 
Macedonians, since the new plate was expected to cost 
considerably more than current models, and since most 
Macedonian drivers expected the new plate would cause them 
delays or worse when they tried to travel to Greece.  We 
weighed in with the Deputy Foreign Minister and with the 
Prime Minister's office.  The GOM decided during the November 
30 leaders meeting to indefinitely delay the "final" decision 
on the plate design. 
 
COMMENT: MESSAGE GETTING THROUGH 
 
¶9. (SBU) The political consensus reached during the leaders 
meeting and the subsequent legislative follow-through reflect 
the cumulative effect of messages delivered by high-ranking 
USG and NATO visitors who have hammered home to the GOM the 
need to move quickly on NATO reform tasks or risk being left 
in the cold at the 2008 Bucharest Summit.  The Ambassador's 
meetings with all key political leaders last week (reftel) 
ensured that the message got through, and parties showed a 
willingness to start looking beyond partisan interests to 
focus  on a broader national goal.  PM Gruevski will host 
another leaders meeting in about two weeks to discuss tasks 
remaining to be completed in order to make the case for 
Macedonia's NATO bid.  In the meantime, we will press for 
continued momentum in the race to Bucharest; neither the 
government nor the opposition can afford to slow the pace now. 
MILOVANOVIC