GIANFRANCO FINI IS (FINALLY) ITALY,S NEW FOREIGN

C O N F I D E N T I A L ROME 004426

SIPDIS


C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (PARAGRAPHS 1 & 2)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/18/2029
TAGS: PINR PREL PGOV IT ITALIAN POLITICS
SUBJECT: GIANFRANCO FINI IS (FINALLY) ITALY,S NEW FOREIGN
MINISTER; BIO INFORMATION

REF: A. ROME 4313

B. ROME 4268

Classified By: POL MINCOUNS THOMAS COUNTRYMAN, REASONS 1.5 (D).


1. (C) SUMMARY: Gianfranco Fini was (finally) appointed
Italy's new Foreign Minister on November 18, following
constant speculation on this outcome since the October 30
resignation of Rocco Buttiglione as Italy's nominee to the
new European Commission and his replacement by ex-FM Franco
Frattini. PM Berlusconi seems to have failed -- for now --
in his apparent attempt to use the potential nomination and
other job appointments within the Government as leverage to
bring his coalition into line and secure compromise (some
might say capitulation) on his desired tax cuts; tax and
budget negotiations continue. The official Italian news
agency suggests Fini will retain his Deputy Prime Minister
title, but still no word on whether Union of Christian
Democrats of the Center (UDC) leader Marco Follini will be
DPM as well. Fini is avowedly pro-American; we expect him to
support Italy's current foreign policy priorities, including
its strong support for us in Iraq. (See also Ref A.) While
the tax and budget issues are highly contentious within the
governing coalition, we do not expect them to topple the
Berlusconi Government. END SUMMARY.


2. (U) Gianfranco Fini was appointed Foreign Minister on
November 18, 2004, replacing outgoing FM Franco Frattini, who
became European Union Commissioner and EU Commission Vice
President the same day. Prior to the appointment, Fini
served as the Italian Government's Deputy Prime Minister
since June 2001, in the wake of the victory of PM Silvio
Berlusconi's center-right coalition at the general elections
in May. In February 2002, Fini was named the Italian
Government's representative to the Convention to develop the
draft treaty of a new European Union Constitution. This
experience increased his international exposure and allowed
Italy,s European interlocutors to know him more closely. At
the conclusion of the Convention's work in early 2004, Fini
stepped up his foreign travels, gaining even greater
visibility abroad. From February through November 2004, he
traveled officially to Al Nasiriyah (Iraq, to visit the
Italian troops),Riga, Tallin, Paris, Washington, D.C.,
Berlin, Hanoi, New York City (for the Columbus Day
celebrations),Cairo, Moscow, Kabul, and Jerusalem. Earlier
travels included all the Central and Eastern European
capitals, Madrid, London, and again Jerusalem.


3. (U) Fini's tenure as Deputy Prime Minister was his first
experience in government, although he has a long history in
politics. Fini is a member of the Chamber of Deputies, to
which he was elected in 1983 and re-elected in 1987, 1992,
1994, 1996, and 2001. He was also a member of the European
Parliament, to which he was elected in 1989, 1994, and again
in 1999, relinquishing his position in 2001 to assume his
Government commitments. In Parliament, until his entry into
Government in 2001, he was an active member of the
Constitutional Affairs, Public Works, Defense, Foreign
Affairs/EU Policies, and Finance Committees, promoting
numerous draft laws in all.

4. (U) Fini is also the President of National Alliance
(AN),the party he created in 1994 upon dissolution of the
neo-fascist Italian Social Movement (MSI). Previously, Fini
led the MSI as its Secretary from 1991 to 1994, and earlier
from 1987 to 1990. Although the MSI was a legal political
force in the post-World War II Italian Republic, its links
with Mussolini's Fascist Party prevented it from part of a
coalition government through an unwritten pact among the
Italian electorate and political forces.


5. (U) Fifty years after the fall of Fascism, Fini saw the
need to discard nostalgia and provide his electorate with a
standing equal to that of Italy,s other voters. He
criticized Fascism on several occasions since 1994, but never
so clearly as his statements at the conclusion of a meeting
with Israeli PM Ariel Sharon in Jerusalem in November 2003,
when in response to specific press queries, Fini said Fascism
was the &absolute evil,8 and added that the &negative
pages8 in Italian history include &all those on the
discrimination and persecution of Jews and other
minorities,8 thereby directly rejecting the policies of
Mussolini's Fascist Republic. AN has been a solid member of
Berlusconi's center-right coalition since its inception in

1994.


6. (U) Fini's political activity goes back to his high
school days, when he joined the MSI and worked in the party
full time. He was elected to the Rome City Council with the
MSI in 1993, 1997, and 2001, collecting more votes than any
other candidate in the latter two elections. From 1987 to


1992, he was MSI City Councilor in the summer resort town of
San Felice Circeo, near Rome. From 1977 to 1983, he was a
journalist in the MSI's daily newspaper &Secolo d'Italia.8
In 1977, he was appointed Secretary of the MSI's youth group,
the &Fronte della Gioventu,8 a position he retained for ten
years. That same year, he graduated from the University of
Rome with a degree in psychology.


7. (C) Fini was born in Bologna on January 3, 1952. He is
married to Daniela Fini and has one daughter. Mrs. Fini
rarely appears in public with her husband, and is the subject
of gossip as being coarse, crude, and an embarrassment to the
smooth politician. His favorite hobbies are scuba diving,
cross country kiing, and reading. He does not speak English.


8. (C) COMMENT: As noted Ref A, Fini -- an experienced
politician with his own constituency -- can be expected to be
somewhat more independent of PM Berlusconi than was Forza
Italia and Berlusconi loyalist Frattini. Fini's interests in
being Foreign Minister include strengthening his own
credibility as a future Prime Minister and improving AN's
electoral chances in 2005 regional and eventual national
elections. To accomplish these, he must continue to
differentiate himself from Berlusconi. This does not
portend, however, radical changes in Italy's foreign policy.
Fini is avowedly pro-American and inter alia a strong
advocate of Italy's support for the U.S. in Iraq.


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2004ROME04426 - Classification: CONFIDENTIAL