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Viewing cable 06SKOPJE118, MACEDONIA: PRIME MINISTER ON ELECTIONS, NATO
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Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin |
---|---|---|---|---|
06SKOPJE118 | 2006-02-06 18:06 | 2010-12-08 21:09 | CONFIDENTIAL//NOFORN | Embassy Skopje |
VZCZCXRO7436
RR RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHSQ #0118/01 0371811
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 061811Z FEB 06
FM AMEMBASSY SKOPJE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4207
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUESEN/SKOPJE BETA
RUEHSQ/USDAO SKOPJE MK
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 SKOPJE 000118
SIPDIS
NOFORN
SIPDIS
STATE FOR EUR/SCE (PFEUFFER)
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/03/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR MK
SUBJECT: MACEDONIA: PRIME MINISTER ON ELECTIONS, NATO
ACCESSION, ICTY AND KOSOVO FINAL STATUS
REF: SKOPJE 104
Classified By: P/E CHIEF SHUBLER, REASONS 1.4 (B) & (D).
SUMMARY
¶1. (C/NF) PM Buckovski told the Ambassador February 1 that
parliamentary elections likely will be held in late
June/early July, and that he expects the opposition to use
rough campaign and electoral tactics in trying to replace his
government. On Macedonia's NATO accession prospects, he
agreed the government must do more to coordinate
anti-corruption efforts and to ensure aggressive prosecution
of corruption cases. The GOM will ask the ICTY to delay the
return of four potential war crimes cases until at least the
end of 2006. Buckovski believes Kosovo final status should
be determined "the sooner the better" in order to safeguard
regional stability; he is convinced final status ultimately
will end in independence. The GOM will keep its head down
and guard up regarding allegations that Macedonia has
assisted the USG in the "el-Masri" case that has captured
local media attention. With the 2006 parliamentary elections
in mind and campaigning about to begin in the next several
months, Buckovski wants to portray himself as a pragmatic
leader, and to ensure that none of his policy stances differs
significantly from ours. End Summary.
PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS IN EARLY SUMMER, CONCERNS ABOUT
OPPOSITION TACTICS
¶2. (C) During a dinner with Ambassador, DCM, DATT, and P/E
Chief on February 1, PM Buckovski said parliamentary
elections likely would be held in late June or early July to
allow the next government to organize itself during the
summer. The draft electoral code would enter parliamentary
debate by the first week of March, with passage expected by
mid-March. Buckovski, who was accompanied by his foreign
policy and national security advisers, said he was hopeful
the parliament would have passed important judicial reform
laws (on the police and on the courts) before the election
date.
¶3. (C) Buckovski said he was concerned that opposition
center-right party VMRO-DPMNE would play a "destructive" role
during the electoral campaign and elections. He cited recent
demonstrations by unemployed tobacco workers from Kumanovo
and Prilep, and ongoing street blockades by an NGO protesting
government plans to privatize the state electrical power
company, as typical examples of VMRO-DPMNE destabilization
tactics. (Comment: We agree there was a partisan political
dimension to the protests, in addition to the underlying
socio-economic complaints by workers and citizens. End
Comment.)
¶4. (C) Noting VMRO-DPMNE objections to government plans to
staff local election boards with civil servants, Buckovski
said that previous elections had been marred by the
appointment of political party members to those boards, which
made the board members susceptible to manipulation and fraud.
The government proposal would, he claimed, be more
reassuring to voters, especially in primarily ethnic Albanian
areas where fraud had typically been most prevalent. Ethnic
Albanians would put more stock in the integrity of civil
service professionals than they would in party
representatives.
DPA'S RETURN TO PARLIAMENT
¶5. (C) Buckovski thanked Ambassador for her constructive role
in persuading the ethnic Albanian opposition party DPA to
return to the Parliament after a 9-month hiatus to protest
irregularities during local elections last March and April
(reftel). He said that he would welcome receiving DPA's
suggestions for amendments to the draft electoral code, and
would discuss those amendments the following day (February 2)
with a DPA representative. During the conversation,
Buckovski spoke by phone with DPA Vice President Menduh
Thaci, and with Speaker of Parliament Jordanovski, to arrange
for DPA's return to Parliament the week of February 6.
NATO ACCESSION
SKOPJE 00000118 002 OF 003
¶6. (C) Ambassador briefed Buckovski on the upcoming visit by
a high-level US delegation to review Macedonia's progress
toward meeting its MAP goals. She said it would be important
for Macedonia to demonstrate that it was a net contributor to
security. The country had to convince some skeptical NATO
members that bringing Macedonia into the Alliance would not
be tantamount to "importing instability." Also, the GOM
would have do more to combat corruption, including better
coordination of existing anti-corruption efforts and more
aggressive efforts to prosecute high-level corruption cases.
¶7. (C) Buckovski agreed that more needed to be done to fight
corruption. He accepted the need for stronger coordination,
and said Foreign Policy Adviser Mersel Biljali was in charge
of "finding a methodology" for tackling the problem.
Buckovski noted his personal ties to both the Public
Prosecutor ("a friend") and the Minister of Justice (a former
law student of his) and even offered personally to head the
effort to improve coordination among the various judicial
agencies to enhance anti-corruption efforts.
ICTY RETURN OF CASES -- REQUEST FOR DELAY
¶8. (C) Responding to the Ambassador's request for an update
on the status of the return of four unindicted cases from the
ICTY to Macedonian jurisdiction, Buckovski said that Chief
Public Prosecutor Prcevski would meet with ICTY investigators
in late February to ask orally for a delay in the return.
Buckovski did not want a paper trail or any documentation of
the request for a delay, since that could later be used by
the opposition to attack the government for being soft on the
ethnic Albanians (all four cases involved eAlbanians alleged
to have committed war crimes during the 2001 internal armed
conflict.)
¶9. (C) Comment: Buckovski's information was at odds with FM
Mitreva's report to the EU Special Representative this week
that Prcevski would travel to The Hague on February 2 to
request the delayed return of cases. This discrepancy
reflects the general lack of coordination on this matter
between the Prime Minister, Mitreva, and the President -- the
only three GOM officials with the authority to make decisions
regarding the return of cases. Buckovski reportedly told the
press on February 2 that he expected the return of cases "to
coincide with completion of the judicial reforms," and that
the cases likely would be returned "by the end of 2006." End
Comment.
KOSOVO FINAL STATUS
¶10. (C) On Kosovo final status, Buckovski said he could see
no other possible outcome but independence. He said he
agreed with the US position, that Kosovo final status should
be determined "the sooner, the better" to reduce the
potential for future instability in the region. As a
positive example to Kosovo and the region of Macedonia's
multi-ethnic experience, he said, the GOM planned to host in
Ohrid in August the 5th anniversary commemoration of the
signing of the Ohrid Framework Agreement, which ended the
2001 internal armed conflict in Macedonia. Buckovski said he
hoped for high-level representation at the event from those
countries and organizations that had signed the original
agreement, in particular the U.S. and EU.
EL-MASRI: STAY THE COURSE
¶11. (C/NOFORN) Concerning the case of a German citizen of
Lebanese descent who has claimed that Macedonian authorities
detained him in January 2004 and handed him over to the CIA
for a rendition flight to Afghanistan, Buckovski noted that
the GOM would stay the course and would continue to support
the Minister of Interior, who has declined to discuss the
matter with the local press. Buckovski was relieved to hear
from the Ambassador that we would not shift course, either,
and would continue to decline to discuss in public specific
cases. The Prime Minister suggested that the Ambassador
coordinate on the issue with the German Embassy in Skopje,
suggesting that the Germans were putting pressure on the
Macedonians to be more forthcoming. The Ambassador demurred.
TRILATERAL MEETING ALONG A-3 LINES
SKOPJE 00000118 003 OF 003
¶12. (SBU) Buckovski mentioned that he was organizing a
"trilateral meeting" in Tirana with his Albanian and Croatian
counterparts (mirroring the Adriatic Partnership), and hoped
the U.S. Ambassador in Tirana would be able to participate.
He gave no specifics regarding the objective of the meeting,
other than to mention that it would strengthen regional
cooperation.
COMMENT
¶13. (C) Buckovski characterized the dinner as a chance to
further strengthen the close cooperation between the Embassy
and his office. He pledged "open and frank" communication
between his office and the Embassy, and suggested Macedonia
continues to view the U.S. as its single most important
"strategic partner." Buckovski clearly was eager to get
feedback on sensitive issues, and to portray himself as a
pragmatic leader who can listen to arguments at odds with his
own views, and who is ready to compromise when needed. With
parliamentary elections likely in summer 2006 and the
campaign season about to begin, Buckovski also feels it is
necessary to show that he has international community
support, especially from the US, and that his policy stances
do not conflict with ours on any high-profile matters.
MILOVANOVIC