ITALY: SLOW DOWN ON ID FOR GEORGIA

C O N F I D E N T I A L ROME 001023 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/04/2015 TAGS: MARR PREL GG IT NATO SUBJECT: ITALY: SLOW DOWN ON ID FOR GEORGIA REF: STATE 51994 Classified By: PolMinCouns David D. Pearce for Reasons 1.4 (B) AND (D) ¶1. (C) Responding to reftel demarche on April 4, MFA NATO Office Head Gianni Bardini told polmiloff that Italy considers it premature to invite Georgia into Intensified Dialogue (ID) with NATO at the April 13 meeting between Georgia and the Allies. Bardini said that, while Italy is open to thinking about further forms of cooperation between Georgia and NATO, including ID, any decision to bring Georgia into ID should be preceded by discussion in the Political Committee and then in the NAC. Those formal stages are necessary, Bardini said, because entering into ID would signify not just a technical, but a political upgrade of Georgia's status in relation to NATO. Bardini added that a NATO decision to increase cooperation with Georgia should be set within the framework of a general review of Partnership and a review of the instruments available to Partners. ¶2. (C) In an aside to polmiloff, Bardini speculated that, if the Political Committee and the NAC managed to forward a positive recommendation in time, the April 27-28 Sofia ministerial might be a suitable occasion for inviting Georgia into ID. ¶3. (C) Comment. Italy's perpetual concern with Georgia and Ukraine in the NATO context is that their status might be linked to that of the Adriatic Three, which Italy considers immediate neighbors and judges to be many years closer to qualifying for NATO membership. To the extent we can make it clear that ID for Georgia will not bear on membership prospects for the Adriatic Three, Italy will be more inclined to work with us. End Comment. SPOGLI