VZCZCXYZ3694
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSQ #0174/01 0650811
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 050811Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY SKOPJE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7142
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE 0238
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUESEN/SKOPJE BETA
RUEHSQ/USDAO SKOPJE MK
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL

UNCLAS SKOPJE 000174 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SCE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OVIP PREL PGOV AA
SUBJECT: CODEL TANNER REVIEWS MACEDONIA'S NATO PROGRESS 
 
 
Summary 
-------- 
¶1. (U) During CODEL Tanner's February 22 visit to Macedonia, 
the President, Prime Minister, and other senior Macedonian 
officials described recent progress in implementing NATO 
MAP-related reforms, noted continuing high levels of public 
support for NATO membership, and highlighted Macedonia's 
success in consistently meeting NATO standards for defense 
expenditures as a percentage of GDP.  On the name dispute 
with Greece, President Crvenkovski reviewed the numerous 
concessions Macedonia already has made to address Greek 
sensitivities, while pledging to continue pursuing a 
mutually-agreed solution.  On Kosovo, Macedonian leaders 
noted as key concerns border demarcation and the importance 
to regional stability of ensuring there is no de facto 
partition in northern Kosovo. End summary. 
 
CODEL Tanner in Skopje 
----------------------- 
¶2. (U) A delegation of U.S. Congressional Representatives, 
led by Representative John Tanner (D-TN), visited Skopje 
February 22 and met separately with President Branko 
Crvenkovski, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, Deputy Minister 
of Defense Halimi, and CHOD Stojanovski.  The members of the 
CODEL -- including Representatives Ben Chandler (D-KY), 
Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY), Jeff Miller (R-FL), Dennis Moore 
(D-KS), and Mike Ross (D-AR) -- thanked Macedonian officials 
for the country's participation in coalition operations in 
Iraq and Afghanistan, and reviewed Macedonia's NATO reform 
efforts, the name dispute with Greece, and Macedonia's 
support for Kosovo status. 
 
NATO Reforms On Track 
--------------------- 
¶3. (U) During discussions with the CODEL, Macedonian 
officials highlighted Macedonia's progress on NATO Membership 
Action Plan (MAP) related reforms.  President Crvenkovski 
described the "remarkable progress" the government and 
opposition had made in late 2007 in reaching consensus on key 
reform legislation and other actions.  He said Macedonia had 
met all defense reform targets, and had made significant 
progress on political reforms.  PM Gruevski highlighted 
Macedonia's ongoing efforts to implement the Ohrid Framework 
Agreement, combat corruption, modernize its military, and 
reform the economy.  CHOD Stojanovski detailed the military 
reforms Macedonia had completed over the past five years, 
with substantial U.S. financial and technical support, 
including ending conscription and implementing an entirely 
professional force, adopting NATO standards of 
interoperability, providing English language training to 
military officers, and instituting an effective planning 
process. 
 
¶4. (U) The CODEL members thanked Macedonian officials for the 
country's strong support of coalition operations in Iraq and 
Afghanistan.  Representative Miller asked Gruevski whether 
continued participation in coalition operations was too large 
a burden for Macedonia's budget, and whether there was public 
support for continued deployments of Macedonian troops. 
Gruevski cited opinion polls indicating that 90 percent of 
Macedonians support NATO membership and he said the public 
understands the costs that accompany NATO membership. 
Macedonia's participation "can be counted on for current and 
future missions," he said.  Crvenkovski noted during his 
remarks that Macedonia's defense budget consistently exceeds 
2 percent of GDP, meeting or exceeding the NATO standard. 
Following the meeting with Stojanovski and Halimi, the CODEL 
met briefly with ten Macedonian soldiers who had 
distinguished themselves during service in international 
operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Bosnia-Herzegovina. 
 
Greece-Macedonia Name Dispute 
----------------------------- 
¶5. (SBU) CODEL members raised Macedonia's negotiations with 
Greece regarding Macedonia's name.  Crvenkovski noted that 
the GOM already had made a number of concessions, including 
amending the Macedonian constitution to renounce all 
territorial claims on Greece or any other neighboring 
country, changing its flag, and publicly renouncing any 
"exclusivity" over the use of the term "Macedonia." 
Crvenkovski said Skopje also had accepted previous proposals 
by UN Special Envoy Nimetz for resolving the name issue, but 
Greece had not reciprocated.  Crvenkovski promised that the 
GOM would try to reach a "common solution" to the name, but 
that did not mean that Macedonia could accept all of Nimitz's 
proposal.  Gruevski underscored that the resolution of the 
bilateral name issue is not, and should not be, a condition 
for NATO membership. 
 
Macedonia on Kosovo Independence 
-------------------------------- 
¶6. (SBU) On the topic of Kosovo's independence, Gruevski said 
that the process was unfolding much as the GOM had expected, 
and that he hoped Pristina and Skopje soon would be able to 
begin to implement demarcation of the border.  Asked about 
any concerns, Crvenkovski expressed concern that Serbs in 
Mitrovica, supported by Belgrade, would not cooperate with 
authorities from Pristina, leading to a de facto partition of 
Kosovo.  He argued that this would be damaging both for 
Kosovo and as a precedent in the region and possibly beyond. 
He urged the international community to be consistently clear 
in insisting on no de jure or de facto partition in Kosovo in 
order to avoid that outcome. 
 
¶7. (U) This cable has been cleared by CODEL Tanner. 
NAVRATIL