Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05ROME3068
2005-09-15 06:55:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Rome
Cable title:  

EUR P/DAS VOLKER'S ROME CONSULTATIONS

Tags:  PREL KDEM IZ IR IT NATO 
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150655Z Sep 05
C O N F I D E N T I A L ROME 003068 

SIPDIS


E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/14/2015
TAGS: PREL KDEM IZ IR IT NATO
SUBJECT: EUR P/DAS VOLKER'S ROME CONSULTATIONS


Classified By: Ambassador Ronald Spogli, for reasons 1.4 (b)(d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L ROME 003068

SIPDIS


E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/14/2015
TAGS: PREL KDEM IZ IR IT NATO
SUBJECT: EUR P/DAS VOLKER'S ROME CONSULTATIONS


Classified By: Ambassador Ronald Spogli, for reasons 1.4 (b)(d).


1. (C) Summary. During his visit to Rome, EUR P/DAS
Volker discussed the Fund and Foundation for the Future, NATO
and
EU expansion, NATO/EU cooperation, Russia, and Latin
America. Overall, the GOI shares our optimism that Europe
will
recover from the EU constitution debacle and that Turkish
accession talks should proceed as scheduled. They agree we
must better utilize NATO and the EU as institutions to
promote a global democracy agenda and support the
Fund/Foundation in principle as long as we can avoid
duplication of the Barcelona Process. Italy's growing
economic energy interest with Russia continues to dampen
their concerns about Putin's domestic agenda. End
Summary.


2. (U) EUR P/DAS Kurt Volker visited Rome September 6.
Septel reports on his MFA meeting. Ambassador Spogli
hosted Volker for lunch with Gianpaolo Scarante, Deputy
Diplomatic Advisor to PM Berlusconi and Achille Amerio,
Diplomatic Advisor to Defense Minister Martino. Volker also
held a public diplomacy meeting with Italian journalists
and think tanks.


3. (C) During lunch, Volker described his trip as being
part of an effort to follow through on President Bush,s
renewed effort to strengthen work with Europe in addressing
common challenges. He said we know we have to work together
to solve global challenges and engage in the war of ideas.
We want to engage Europe on challenges outside Europe
while we continue to also make progress on Balkans issues.
On NATO/EU, Volker stressed the importance of making these
institutions effective instruments to implement shared
goals rather than allowing institutional rivalries become
obstacles to achieving those goals.


4. (C) In response to Scarante,s question on the future
of Europe, Volker said the administration was optimistic.
Blair,s re-election, Berlusconi,s electoral prospects, plus
better relations with France and Germany (with or without
Chirac and Schroeder) and improved chances for center-right
wins in Poland and elsewhere put us in a better position
strategically than at any point in the last ten years.
However, on EU enlargement prospects, Scarante and Amerio

lamented decisions to hold referendums on the EU
constitution and said that Europe would need some time to
reflect and focus on domestic economic concerns. Scarante
said this may delay Turkey's entry into the EU, but Italy
continued to support the October 3 deadline for beginning
accession talks. Overall, they said, Italy is also
optimistic about Europe,s future.


5. (C) Amerio expressed concern about NATO losing its
identity and urged efforts to strengthen the political
component of its leadership, perhaps through expanded PfP
activities and more cooperation with the EU and UN. Volker
agreed, noting that NATO,s Mediterranean dialogue had been
weak and lacked outreach to the Persian Gulf. This was a
key reason for the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative and
strengthening of the Med dialogue. He suggested that perhaps
non-NATO EU states should be drawn closer into SHAPE planning
and integration activities, if we could convince Turkey to
support this. On NATO enlargement, Volker said we wanted to
promote continued reform in the Adriatic Charter three by
keeping prospects open for membership, but it was too soon
to address this issue in 2006. We should plan to address
membership in 2008.


6. (C) On BMENA, Volker said our interest was to build on
the Sea Island Summit/Forum for the Future to increase
support beyond the G-8 countries, especially since we were
not convinced Russia would adequate address this initiative
during its presidency. He described the Foundation and
Fund proposals and urged Italian support. Scarante said PM
Berlusconi supported the idea in principle but there were
many Middle East initiatives and it was important to avoid
duplication. He noted that Italy has a lot of experience
in small business development in the Balkans. Italy would
need to see how these new proposals fit into the Barcelona
Process, but admitted it was not clear where Barcelona was
going.


7. (C) Scarante confirmed that A/S Fried,s message on the
importance of encouraging democracy in Russia had been
passed by PM Berlusconi during his meetings with President
Putin at Socci. Discussions there were focused on economic
issues, especially commercial energy cooperation, which grew
by 55 percent in the last year (albeit with some help from
rising oil prices). Volker noted that we had had high hopes
during Putin,s early days but were increasingly disappointed
over centralization of power, heavy-handed dealings with the
Chechens, and Russia,s role in neighboring states. Scarante
said the Russians remained very concerned about states they
believe are in Moscow,s sphere of influence; Volker replied
that we have to convince Russia that Ukraine and others are
now independent countries, and it is in Moscow,s interest to
have strong, democratic, market-oriented and prosperous
countries on its borders. Amerio (who served in Moscow)
commented that what was lacking was not democracy per se,
but a series of checks and balances and development of
horizontal, rather than just top-down, structures in
government
and society.


8. (C) In response to a Scarante question, Volker said our
main issues of concern in South America were Venezuela and
Cuba. In both cases, we would like to see EU countries
adopt a more visible role in promoting democracy. In the
case of Chavez, he uses European silence to try and single
out the U.S. as his only detractor. On Cuba, we want to
ensure that when the "wall" there falls, there will be
democratic political activists in place in the model of
Vaclev Havel in Velvet Revolution Prague. We were
disappointed,
therefore, by EU decisions that discouraged meetings with
political dissidents.


9. (U) During a roundtable with press and think tanks:
Volker expressed thanks for Italy,s Katrina relief, briefed
the group on the new BMENA Foundation and Fund for the
Future initiatives and answered questions. On BMENA, there
was a suggestion by Italian participants that civil society
building be concentrated on development of political parties.
There was a lively discussion of whether the Iran nuclear
issue would divide the U.S. and the EU.


10. (U) P/DAS VOLKER HAS CLEARED THIS MESSAGE.

SPOGLI


NNNN
2005ROME03068 - Classification: CONFIDENTIAL