ITALY OPPOSES SANCTIONS FOR BURMA

C O N F I D E N T I A L ROME 000855 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/04/2014 TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM BM IT EUN SUBJECT: ITALY OPPOSES SANCTIONS FOR BURMA REF: STATE 42342 CLASSIFIED BY: POL M/C TOM COUNTRYMAN FOR REASONS 1.5 (B) AND (D) ¶1. (C) MFA SOUTHEAST ASIA OFFICE DIRECTOR, MARCO DELLA SETA, REPORTED THAT ITALY DOES NOT SUPPORT ECONOMIC SANCTIONS ON BURMA. SINCE BURMA HAS A TRADITIONAL ECONOMY AND IS NOT A MAJOR TRADING PARTNER WITH THE EU, THE GOI BELIEVES SANCTIONS WOULD HAVE LITTLE EFFECT ON THE GOVERNMENT AND INSTEAD, HURT THE BURMESE PEOPLE AND SEND THE WRONG SIGNAL TO ASIAN PARTNERS. DELLA SETA EXPRESSED ITALY'S PREFERENCE TO CONTINUE EMPHASIZING DIALOGUE AND GREATER ENGAGEMENT FROM ASIAN PARTNERS SUCH AS THAILAND, WHICH HE FELT HAD DEMONSTRATED SOME POSITIVE INFLUENCE RECENTLY. ¶2. (C) DELLA SETA STATED THAT A NUMBER, BUT NOT THE MAJORITY, OF EU STATES SHARE THE ITALIAN POSITION AND THAT HE FEELS THE CURRENT EU POLICY WILL BE CONTINUED. THE USG POSITION WILL BE DISCUSSED AT THE COASI MEETING, BUT NEW SANCTIONS WOULD NOT BE IMPOSED UNLESS THE SITUATION IN BURMA CONSIDERABLY DETERIORATED, DELLA SETA CONCLUDED. SEMBLER NNNN 2004ROME00855 - Classification: CONFIDENTIAL