VZCZCXRO9006
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHSQ #0590/01 2670522
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 230522Z SEP 08
FM AMEMBASSY SKOPJE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7691
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE 0411
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 000590 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/SCE AND INR/B 
 
E.O. 12958: NA 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL MK AL KV
SUBJECT: MACEDONIA: ALI AHMETI SPEAKS OUT ON COALITION DYNAMICS 
 
Sensitive but unclassified - please protect accordingly. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: The GoM's decision to prosecute the four cases 
which the ICTY recently decided not to pursue is a clear violation 
of the 2002 amnesty law and threatens inter-ethnic relations, ethnic 
Albanian DUI Party leader Ali Ahmeti told visiting NAVEUR ADM 
Fitzgerald on Sept 17.  Despite his anger at the decision to proceed 
with these cases -- one of which would personally implicate him -- 
Ahmeti claimed to enjoy a good working relationship with PM Gruevski 
and was pleased with the language law and the apparently imminent 
recognition of Kosovo.  However, he asserted, some of Gruevski's 
closest associates routinely usurp the authority of DUI ministers. 
Soon after this meeting Ahmeti took his complaints to the press, his 
first public criticism of the ruling VMRO party since joining the 
coalition following June 1 elections.  He is not ready to bolt, but 
Ahmeti is likely laying down a marker to Gruevski to back off on 
these cases.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) In a comprehensive Sept. 17 tour d'horizon with visiting 
NAVEUR ADM Fitzgerald, DUI leader Ali Ahmeti candidly described the 
dynamics of his coalition with PM Gruevski's ruling VMRO-DPMNE 
party.  He asserted that his personal relationship with Gruevski was 
excellent, and touted the new law permitting greater official use of 
the Albanian language as evidence that VMRO is now able to overcome 
"taboos" in order to pursue better inter-ethnic relations.  However, 
Ahmeti characterized staff relations between the PM's office and DUI 
as poor, and also lashed out against DPMs Stavreski (Economy) and 
Bocevski (Euro-integration) for usurping or quashing projects and 
initiatives of the Ministry for Economy and the DPM for 
Implementation of the Framework Agreement, both posts held by DUI. 
He hoped that Gruevski would be able to persuade his people to work 
more cooperatively with DUI. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Ahmeti disclosed that Gruevski had agreed to recognize 
Kosovo soon and this was part of a written coalition agreement 
between VMRO and DUI.  ADM Fitzgerald and the Charge thanked Ahmeti 
for his assistance in ensuring a successful border demarcation. 
Ahmeti responded that he was pleased with the fast pace of the 
demarcation and that both sides have chosen to approach it as a 
technical rather than political exercise.  He also praised Gruevski 
for respecting the views of the majority of e-Albanian voters by 
choosing DUI as his partner.  His party's main goals remain 
implementation of the Ohrid Framework Agreement and membership in 
NATO and the EU. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Despite his praise for Gruevski, Ahmeti was clearly angry 
about, and directly appealed for NATO/U.S. intervention in, the 
GoM's decision to proceed with prosecuting four cases against ethnic 
Albanians stemming from the 2001 conflict.  Ahmeti argued that these 
cases -- which ICTY recently decided not to pursue -- may not be 
prosecuted according to the 2002 amnesty law.  He accused the 
authorities of bias, and asked where were prosecutions for 
atrocities committed against Albanians.  He asserted that the intent 
of the amnesty law -- which he negotiated and supported at the time 
as part of the package to end the violence -- was clearly that only 
the ICTY had the competence to prosecute war crimes arising from the 
conflict.  Thus ICTY's decision not to pursue the cases should be 
the end of the matter. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Ahmeti described a political landscape where only the 
government coalition parties stand fully intact.  The largest 
e-Macedonian opposition party, the Social Democrats (SDSM), have 
suffered internal strife for years, indeed since Branko Crvenkovski 
left the party to become president in 2004.  He predicted that 
Crvenkovski's return to the party next year would strengthen it, 
adding he has always maintained a good relationship with SDSM. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Ahmeti noted ruefully that while he maintains good ties 
with the three main political parties in Kosovo, he does not even 
talk with DPA leader Menduh Thaci.  While he cautiously welcomed the 
formation of a new party --New Democracy (ND) -- by DPA dissidents 
led by former DPA Vice President Imer Selmani, he warned that 
Selmani "must not make the same mistakes" as Thaci.  Nonetheless, as 
a goodwill gesture he has offered to share seating in the parliament 
with Selmani and his ND colleagues in order to avoid close proximity 
to and possible conflict with Thaci and other DPA MPs.  He opined 
that Selmani was not likely to join the governing coalition at this 
time, adding that he is pursuing longer-term goals. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Comment: Shortly after this meeting, Ahmeti spoke out to 
the press about the returned ICTY cases and repeated his criticism 
of Gruevski's closest associates, specifically calling out Bocevski, 
Finance Minister Slavevski, Education Minister Stojanovski, and 
 
SKOPJE 00000590  002 OF 002 
 
 
Justice Minister Manevski.  This was his first public criticism of 
the ruling party since they formed their coalition over the summer 
months.  Observers here recall that the DUI-SDSM relationship was 
rocky during their 2002 to 2006 coalition.  While some elements 
within DUI have spoken to us about their displeasure with Gruevski's 
heavy-handed tactics since winning the elections -- including 
passing over 150 laws under emergency procedures, many in the 
absence of the opposition -- Ahmeti has apparently enforced 
discipline up until now.  He is far from breaking ranks with VMRO, 
but the legal cases rankle, not least because two of the cases 
involve DUI MPs and another, the so-called NLA Leadership case, 
would mean charges against him as well for leading the 2001 
uprising.  The events of 2001 are still a fresh wound here, one that 
would be dangerous to re-open.  (We will report further on these 
cases septel.)  End comment. 
 
NAVRATIL