ITALY CONCURS ON NEED FOR VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTIONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L ROME 004431 SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/WE, EUR/SCE, EUR/ERA E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/17/2014 TAGS: PREL CY IT EUN UNFICYP SUBJECT: ITALY CONCURS ON NEED FOR VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTIONS FOR CYPRUS - TIES FUTURE COOPERATION TO UNSC REFORM REF: STATE 241068 Classified By: POL MINISTER COUNSELOR TOM COUNTRYMAN. REASON:1.4 (B)(D ) ¶1. (U) MFA Turkey/Cyprus Office Director Renato Ricci told poloff that Italy was already working with its EU partners on a "substantial" voluntary contribution for the UN Peacekeeping Mission in Cyprus (UNFICYP). Italy views this effort as part of a broader stabilization program, which includes an early date to begin negotiations on Turkish EU accession. ¶2. (C) Ricci's focus then shifted to UNSC reform. He said that Italy could not be expected to be as cooperative and generous as it had in the past for this, and other UN operations, if it was to be left out of any enlargement of the Security Council. Ricci asked that poloff make clear to Washington that any plan giving Germany a UNSC seat without similar recognition of Italy's contributions to UN missions and mandates would be problematic for the Italian government internally, and would necessarily result in a "reassessment" of Italy's role in the UN. Ricci was not necessarily asking that the US come out in support of an Italian seat, only that we stop hinting publicly that we would support enlargement to include Japan and Germany but not Italy. ¶3. (C) Comment: It was unclear if Ricci's points on the UNSC represent MFA policy or his own views. He was not speaking from notes and was quite emotional when elaborating on this perceived possible injustice to Italy's contribution to the UN. We have, however, detected and reported on increased anxiety throughout the Italian government on this issue. It promises to be front and center in the briefing books of any Italian officials meeting with USG principals in the coming months. SEMBLER NNNN 2004ROME04431 - Classification: CONFIDENTIAL