ITALY INSISTS IT IS FIRM ON PRESSURING RUSSIA ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L ROME 003961

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/RPM (WARLICK/HOLTZ/PROSEN) AND USOSCE
(SCOTT/CONNUCK/SLOTTA)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/01/2015
TAGS: PREL EU PGOV IT OSCE
SUBJECT: ITALY INSISTS IT IS FIRM ON PRESSURING RUSSIA ON
ISTANBUL COMMITMENTS

REF: A) STATE 217326 B) ROME 3880 C) CONNUCK-ESCOBAR
EMAIL 11/30 D) STATE 211137

Classified By: Classified by David D. Pearce, Minister Counselor for Po
litical Affairs, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary. On December 1, Poloff met with Dr. Susanna
Schlien of the OSCE office of the Italian MFA to discuss the
US position on a possible ministerial declaration during the
OSCE Ljubljana summit. Poloff noted that the USG believed
that no ministerial message might be better than one which
let Russia off the hook. The USG position, which is
supported by many NATO allies and EU member states, is that
Russia must comply with its Istanbul commitments. Schlien
stated that the Italian position was that Russia must be held
accountable for its failure to produce results in Moldova,
but feared that an inflexible approach could paralyze the
organization during a period when the OSCE will need to
conduct important operations in several former Soviet states.
End summary.


2. (C) Poloff met with Schlien in advance of the departure to
Ljubljana of the head of the Italian MFA's OSCE office,
Brunelle Borzi, to discuss the Italian position on several
OSCE proposals. Schlien noted that Italy was pleased that
the OSCE seems to have resolved the budget issue (ref d) in
advance of the summit. She hoped that it could pave the way
for a more substantive discussion of the future of the
organization. Schlien reiterated Borzi's concern that an
inflexible USG position could lead to the failure to adopt a
ministerial declaration during the summit (ref b). Failure
to do so could cause the organization to lose credibility.


3. (C) Drawing on ref a and c points, Poloff noted that the
USG preferred not to sidestep important issues facing the
organization, particularly, Russian failure to implement its
Istanbul commitments on Moldova. The USG position, which is
supported by many EU members and NATO allies, is that
adopting a declaration that avoids important issues would
risk compromising the organization's function and purpose.
Poloff noted that the USG and other allies were taking the
same approach in discussions on the December 2005 NAC
communique regarding Russia's Istanbul commitments on Moldova
(ref a).


4. (C) Schlien insisted that Italy remained firm on Russia's
need to respect Moldovan and Georgia sovereignty and abide by
its 1999 commitments. From the Italian perspective, removing
disputed language might allow Russia and other former Soviet
states to endorse a ministerial declaration to move the
organization forward on other issues. Of primary concern to
Italy was enshrining in a ministerial declaration language
that would insist that human rights and civil liberties
violations in one OSCE country were a concern to all members.
Having Russia and other CIS nations agree to this language
could pave the way for OSCE operations in 2006, when possible
referenda in the Balkans, elections in Belarus and continuing
unrest in Kyrgyzstan are likely to require intense OSCE
participation.


5. (C) Schlien noted that Italy believes that an appropriate
compromise would be to insist on the language in regional
declarations. This compromise is acceptable to Moldova and
Georgia, according to Schlien, a clear indication that this
move would not undermine the international community's
support for those nations.


6. (C) Comment: This discussion indicates that the Italians
are less concerned about avoiding a confrontation with the
Russians than stalling the work of the OSCE over a failure to
reach consensus on a few issues. Italy considers it has
significant interests in the OSCE's work - the possible
referenda in Kosovo and Montenegro and the election in
Belarus - and does not want to see a breakdown in the
organization.
SPOGLI