ITALY SHARES US CONCERNS OVER RISING TENSIONS IN

UNCLAS ROME 003115 SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PHUM PBTS MD IT UN SUBJECT: ITALY SHARES US CONCERNS OVER RISING TENSIONS IN MOLDOVA/TRANSNISTRIA REF: STATE 169792 ¶1. (SBU) On August 10, MFA Russia/NIS desk officer Lucia Pasquilini told poloff that Italy supports a more active EU role in addressing the growing tensions in Moldova/Transnistria. Italy supported and awaits the conclusions from EU Director General Cooper's fact finding mission to Moldova August 9-10. She said that those conclusions would be used as the basis for discussions, and hopefully concrete actions, in Brussels. Italy supports a visa ban which would bar travel by Transnistrian officials directly involved in school closures. Pasquilini noted that discussions in Brussels were focused on a separate ban to deal with this issue specifically, rather than an extension of the current ban on visas for those involved in the general political situation. ¶2. (SBU) Pasquilini said that the EU had delivered a demarche recently in Moscow to encourage a stronger Russian role in solving the conflict. While there was no indication Moscow intended to launch another "Kozak" plan which would shut out the ongoing five-sided negotiations, she said it was unlikely that Russia would agree to expand the negotiations, even for a one-time high-level meeting, to include the EU and US in the mediating process. Pasquilini said that Italy would consider a joint US-EU demarche in Moscow to propose the idea to the Russians. Visit Rome's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/rome/index.cf m SEMBLER NNNN 2004ROME03115 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED