VZCZCXRO1775
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHSQ #0411/01 1760907
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 240907Z JUN 08
FM AMEMBASSY SKOPJE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7466
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE 0351
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
RUESEN/SKOPJE BETA
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEHSQ/USDAO SKOPJE MK
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SKOPJE 000411 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR EUR (DAS DICARLO) AND EUR/SCE (PFEUFFER, MCCLUNG) 
SARAJEVO PLS PASS TO DAS DICARLO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV NATO MK
SUBJECT: MACEDONIA: SCENESETTER FOR EUR DAS DICARLO'S JUNE 
26-28 VISIT TO SKOPJE 
 
RECOVERING FROM POST-ELECTION BLUES 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) Welcome back to Skopje! The country is slowly 
recovering from the post-election blues it suffered after the 
badly-flawed June 1 early Parliamentary elections.  Re-run 
elections on June 15, despite incidents of group, proxy, and 
family voting, were an improvement over the June 1 balloting, 
confirming VMRO's 63-seat absolute majority in Parliament and 
giving opposition DUI 18 MPs to DPA's 11.  A weakened SDSM 
managed to garner only 27 seats, prompting Radmila Sekerinska 
to announce she was stepping down as head of the party.  A 
third round of re-run voting has been announced for June 29, 
with re-voting taking place in 15 polling stations. 
 
SENDING OUT COALITION FEELERS 
------------------------------ 
 
¶2. (U) The new Parliament was constituted on June 19, with 
DPA boycotting the proceedings due to its unhappiness over 
the June 15 re-runs.  On June 21, President Crvenkovski gave 
PM Gruevski the mandate to form a new governing coalition; he 
has 20 days to do so; VMRO insiders tell us they expect the 
new government to be constituted by mid-July.  Local media 
report that Gruevski will hold tentative coalition talks with 
DUI and DPA, and will ask both to accept his "expanded" 
100-steps governing program as the price for joining his 
coalition.  He also will ask for their views on the name 
issue as part of the vetting process. 
 
¶3. (SBU) In response to media speculation that Gruevski could 
invite both/both DUI and DPA to join a coalition government, 
senior DUI representatives have told us they strongly oppose 
serving in a coalition that includes their DPA rival.  They 
accuse DPA, with good reason, of committing the bulk of 
electoral irregularities during the June voting, and of 
perpetrating most of the acts of violence that marred the 
elections.  In the event Gruevski insists on including DPA in 
a coalition with DUI, DUI will insist on SDSM being included 
in the government, which would leave the Parliament with no 
opposition party (SDSM likely would refuse the offer anyway). 
 DPA too insists it cannot work in a coalition government 
that includes DUI, claiming that DUI's victory in the June 15 
re-runs was not legitimate.  DPA also is threatening to sue 
the SEC and Supreme Court over their decisions ordering the 
June 15 re-runs. 
 
KOSOVO BORDER DEMARCATION AND RECOGNITION 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶4. (SBU) Although the Prime Minister and FM Milososki 
consistently complain, without basis, of Kosovar 
foot-dragging, the Macedonian-Kosovar Joint Technical 
Commission (JTC) has made good headway on border demarcation 
since it was constituted earlier this year.  The JTC will 
travel to the Macedonia-Albania-Kosovo trilateral border 
point on June 24 to identify and mark the location for the 
laying of the first border marker, to be officially unveiled 
on June 30.  (NOTE: The GoM is working to identify a country 
willing to airlift the 2.3 ton border marker -- the Swiss are 
currently considering taking on that mission. END NOTE.) 
From June 26-27, the three sides and the ICO will meet in 
Ohrid to sign a protocol on the triborder demarcation. 
 
¶5. (SBU) In a June 20 meeting with the Ambassador, FM 
Milososki indicated that if border demarcation moved ahead 
according to plan, the GOM hoped to have key border stones in 
place by August 25.  If that happened, he said, Macedonia 
would be "positively inclined" to recognize Kosovo. Comment: 
We are not convinced the PM and Foreign Minister are serious 
about this offer, but we need to use Milososki's claim to 
push them further on recognition. End comment. 
 
NAME AND NATO: REFERENDUM COULD THWART PROCESS 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶6. (SBU) According to Macedonian name negotiator Dimitrov, 
the last round of name discussions in New York was "more 
difficult than any previous meeting," with the Greek side 
more strident in insisting that Macedonia accede to its 
 
SKOPJE 00000411  002 OF 002 
 
 
demands, including a geographic modifier and broad scope of 
use (erga omnes). Athens also insists on exclusivity over 
claims to ancient heritage, and refuses to accept continued 
use of "Macedonian" to describe nationality or language. 
Nimetz has floated, as "food for thought," some variations on 
"Northern Macedonia" as a possible solution, and reportedly 
will travel to Skopje June 27 for consultations with the GOM. 
 Crvenkovski and Gruevski met on June 23 to coordinate 
positions and reaffirmed as a top priority preservation of 
the country's national identity, according to press accounts. 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) PM Gruevski is determined to submit to a referendum 
any proposal Nimetz puts forward, without first having taken 
a position on the proposed solution.  He is not inclined to 
lobby for or support the proposal until the citizens have 
voted for it in the referendum.  That approach could thwart 
progress toward a solution, given the low likelihood that the 
"50 percent plus 1 vote" turnout requirement for a referendum 
to succeed could be met without intensive engagement by the 
government. 
 
TENDER PROCESS, SORE SPOT IN COMMERCIAL TIES 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶8. (U) The U.S. firm GE Healthcare recently bid on a 40 
million euro Macedonian tender for the purchase of healthcare 
equipment.  The original tender was clearly written to favor 
other bidders, primarily Siemens of Germany, and we advocated 
strongly on behalf of a revised tender procedure to level the 
playing field.  The GOM revised the tender specifications, 
but not in a manner which satisfied all of GE's concerns. 
Given continued doubts about the fairness or transparency of 
the tender process, GE decided not to submit a bid, and 
Siemens currently seems likely to win the tender.  Our 
assessment is that the tender process was, at minimum, poorly 
administered, if not rigged to favor Siemens's equipment, and 
should be redone to allow Macedonian citizens to receive the 
best equipment at the best price. 
Milovanovic