ITALIAN REACTION TO U.S. INITIATIVES FOR 59TH UN

UNCLAS ROME 003135 SIPDIS SENSITIVE IO/UNP (NARANJO) E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: AORC ECON IT KDEM PHUM PREL UNGA UN SUBJECT: ITALIAN REACTION TO U.S. INITIATIVES FOR 59TH UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY REF: SECSTATE 152009 On August 9, MFA Deputy Director for UN Affairs Mario Baldi told Pol M/C and PolIntern that Italy had no major objections to the major US priorities for the 59th UNGA. Baldi said that while the US priorities focused on international &principles8 of human rights and democracy, EU priorities addressed &problems8 in the UN infrastructure. The EU and Italy, he said, sought to streamline UN institutions and bureaucracy. Italy remains particularly concerned with UNSC reform, adamant in its efforts to prevent the accession of new members to permanent UNSC member status. Italy has been organizing a "like-minded" lunch for September 24 to express its views on UNSC reform, but according to Baldi this date may clash with a planned G-8 lunch to be hosted by Secretary Powell. He requested that the U.S. reconsider the date of its lunch, as Italy has been organizing its event for several weeks and rescheduling confirmed attendees would be more difficult than moving the unconfirmed date of the U.S. lunch. ECONOMIC FREEDOM, TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS, PROMOTING DEMOCRACY, REDUCING MIDDLE EAST RESOLUTIONS: ¶2. (SBU) Baldi said there were no specific points in which U.S. and Italian views differed on these issues. He added that Chilean President Escobar will host a seminar on promoting democracy the first day of the UNGA - Italy intends to attend the exercise and give its support. CLONING: ¶3. (SBU) Baldi said that Italy was in &perfect agreement8 with the U.S. on human cloning. Like the previous UNGA debate on cloning, however, he predicted it would be difficult to reach consensus. Other EU countries, particularly France and Germany, agree on banning human cloning for reproductive purposes, but have passed resolutions leaving an &open window8 for other uses such as medical research. Visit Rome's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/rome/index.cf m SEMBLER NNNN 2004ROME03135 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED