VZCZCXYZ0007
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSQ #0619/01 2831412
ZNR UUUUU ZZH (CCY ADE66291 MSI0542-695)
R 091412Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY SKOPJE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7729
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE 0427
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUESEN/SKOPJE BETA
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL

UNCLAS SKOPJE 000619 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
C O R R E C T E D COPY CAPTION 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: NATO PGOV PHUM PREL KV AL MK
SUBJECT: MACEDONIA: DUI'S AHMETI STILL WORRIED ON HAGUE 
CASES, ELECTION CHANGES 
 
REF: SKOPJE 607 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: The Macedonian government is forming a task 
force to determine if the 2002 amnesty law should apply to 
the four cases returned to Macedonia by the International 
Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), ethnic 
Albanian DUI Party leader Ali Ahmeti told Ambassador Reeker 
in their first meeting October 3.  Ahmeti claimed that he and 
PM Gruevski agreed that one expert from both the U.S. and the 
EU participate in the task force (the PM's Chief of Staff 
subsequently told us this was not true).  Ahmeti also 
discussed his two favored options for the election of the 
president, new names that his party would oppose for 
Macedonia and marginalization of the Albanians by proposed 
changes to the electoral code.  DUI still wants to see 
charges pressed for June's election violence.  Ahmeti 
reported that he was baffled by a dispute that arose in 
Macedonia's recent leaders meeting over the name issue.  End 
summary. 
 
GoM Trying to Sort Out the Amnesty Law and the ICTY Cases 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) During their first meeting on October 3, Ahmeti told 
Ambassador Reeker that DUI and the Prime Minister had reached 
an agreement on the formation of a task force to evaluate the 
application of the 2002 amnesty law towards the four cases 
returned to Macedonia by ICTY.  The task force will include 
Chief Prosecutor Svrotovski, Ombudsman and Former Minister of 
Justice Ixhet Memeti, Member of Prosecutor,s Council Faik 
Aslani and former DUI MP Adnan Jushari. Ahmeti claimed that 
the PM had also agreed to include one expert each from the 
U.S. and the EU and said that OSCE and possibly NATO 
participation would also be useful.  (PM Gruevski's Chief of 
Staff told us Oct. 5 that this was not the case, and that the 
PM still opposed international participation in these 
talks--see reftel.)  Ahmeti said the proceedings of the task 
force would not be made public and both sides agreed to 
accept its final decision.  The Ambassador said that we are 
discussing these cases with our international allies and 
stressed that we seek a fair and transparent resolution of 
this issue. 
 
Name Issue: Solve It, Please 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) DUI does not support names such as Slavic Republic 
of Macedonia, National Republic of Macedonia or Former 
Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia as acceptable for the 
e-Albanian community, adding that names that contain a 
geographical modifier, such as &Northern Macedonia,8 are 
not problematic.  Ahmeti was adamant that e-Albanians' 
primary aspiration is membership in NATO and the EU and his 
party was in favor of taking the path of least resistance as 
long as the name did not include ethnic identifiers.  Ahmeti 
made clear that continued impasse of Macedonia,s NATO 
membership would not bode well for interethnic relations. 
 
Bargaining on Presidential Elections and Minority Seats 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Parliamentary election of the President -- with 
Badinter voting -- or an election law change to include an 
e-Albanian deputy president are DUI,s two favored options to 
make future presidential elections more equitable to the 
Albanian community, said Ahmeti.  The Ambassador reiterated 
that parliamentary election would be viewed as a step 
backwards in the eyes of the International Community.  Ahmeti 
said e-Albanians currently have little stake in presidential 
elections and the inclusion of an Albanian candidate for 
deputy president on the ticket would encourage the full 
participation of the e-Albanian community. (Note: any change 
to the Presidential election system would require amending 
the constitution.) 
 
¶5. (SBU) Ahmeti is most concerned about the proposed addition 
of ten minority seats for non-Albanian minorities in 
Parliament.  If the proposed seats are granted votes under 
the Badinter system this would marginalize e-Albanian 
strength in Parliament.  He is in favor of additional 
minority seats in Parliament but does not want them to be 
granted votes under Badinter and said he has asked those 
proposing the law for an explanation of how Albanian Badinter 
votes will be protected now and in the future.  He has not 
received a reply. 
 
Justice for June Election Violence 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Ahmeti said many of the instigators of violence in 
the June elections were either protected by immunity laws or 
were in uniform and he still hopes that they will be tried 
for their crimes.  He believes that unless they are brought 
to justice future elections will experience similar problems. 
 
A Bizarre Leaders Meeting 
------------------------------ 
 
¶7. (SBU) Ahmeti said the Oct. 2 meeting of the leaders of the 
four major political parties started out well but then 
degenerated into an opaque debate between the opposition SDSM 
and ruling VMRO on the name issue.  He was not entirely clear 
on the details of the debate but understood that the issue 
would be discussed again at the next leaders meeting when 
President Crvenkovski and name negotiator Dimitrov were 
expected to be present. 
Reeker