AMBASSADOR'S FAREWELL CALL ON MAYOR OF ROME

UNCLAS ROME 001263

SIPDIS


SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV IT MGMT ITALY NATIONAL ELECTIONS
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S FAREWELL CALL ON MAYOR OF ROME


1. (SBU) Summary. In his farewell call on Walter Veltroni,
Mayor of Rome, the Ambassador lauded the city's handling of
the Pope's funeral and its support for the Embassy over the
years. On the political front, Veltroni, a member of the
Democrats of the Left (DS) and potential center-left
candidate for Prime Minister, was doubtful that the
center-right would win in the upcoming national elections.
End summary.


2. (SBU) The Ambassador began his April 13 call on the Mayor
by complimenting Veltroni for Rome's successful management of
last week's funeral for Pope John Paul II, and thanked him
especially for Rome's support for the US delegation, which
included the President and Mrs. Bush, two former presidents,
Secretary Rice and NSA Hadley, and 40 members of Congress.

SIPDIS
Veltroni estimated that three million people -- and 1,700
VIPs -- visited Rome to pay their last respects.
Fortunately, he said, the city of Rome already had a plan
prepared, as it does for many contingencies. Five to six
thousand police and 20,000 municipal officers helped keep the
city secure and clean. There were no major incidents of
theft, illness, or accidents, and all the major piazzas were
clean within two hours of the conclusion of the funeral. In
addition to providing two million bottles of water (and 3,500
portable toilets),Veltroni cited the "psychological factor"
of having plenty of city volunteers and sanitary officials on
site as an important factor in maintaining order. He
anticipated much smaller crowds (hundreds of thousands, "like
having dinner at home") for the inauguration of the new pope.
Veltroni said he met with New York Mayor Bloomberg and
former President Clinton during their visits.


3. (SBU) The Ambassador also thanked Veltroni for his support
in the Embassy's acquisition of the new "Sembler" building,
as well as security improvements to the Embassy as a whole.
Veltroni assured the Ambassador that the Embassy would
continue to receive excellent support from the city of Rome.


4. (SBU) Turning to politics, Veltroni called this a "dark
moment" for the Berlusconi government, which lost 11 out of
13 regions in the April 3-4 elections (septel). (Comment.
Veltroni is a potential challenger to Romano Prodi as
center-left candidate for Prime Minister, although this is
less likely after the left's good showing in the elections.
PM Berlusconi has commented to us on several occasions that,
while he has nothing to fear from Prodi as an opponent,
Veltroni would present a challenge. End comment.) Veltroni
noted that it is the first time in ten years that the
center-left received, in absolute terms, more votes than the
center-right. The situation could be much different in a
year, he said, but Italy's severe economic and budget
situations, combined with a "leadership crisis" in the
center-right, mean things will probably get worse for the
center-right. He doubted, however, that Berlusconi would
call for new elections before June, since that would mean
dissolving Parliament by next week. He also did not believe
they would occur next fall, since the budget bill would not
yet be passed, which Berlusconi needed to do to meet the
three percent budget deficit called for under the EU
stability pact to avoid facing EU penalties.


5. (SBU) Veltroni agreed with the Ambassador that Italy had
been especially hard hit by the conversion from the Lira to
the Euro due to a lack of price controls, though the city of
Rome negotiated an agreement with local retailers that helped
control inflation in Rome. Veltroni opined that the French
referendum on the EU constitution will be a decisive moment
for the EU; if the French vote no, he said, it will be a
"disaster" for Europe. (Note: Veltroni hosted last October's
ceremonial signing of the EU constitution by EU leaders in
Rome's City Hall. End note.)


6. (SBU) Veltroni will travel to New York next week where he
will meet with Senators Kennedy and Clinton, former Mayor
Giuliani, NBA Commissioner David Stern, and Wall Street
representatives, and give a speech at Columbia University.

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2005ROME01263 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED