ITALIANS PROMISE TO DOWNPLAY PACE RESOLUTION ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L ROME 001992 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/SCE E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/12/2016 TAGS: PREL PGOV BK IT SUBJECT: ITALIANS PROMISE TO DOWNPLAY PACE RESOLUTION ON BOSNIA REF: STATE 113492 Classified By: Classified by David D. Pearce, Political Minister Counse lor, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) MFA Balkans Office Director Raimondo De Cardona told Poloff that the PACE resolution calling for the abolishment of qualified majority voting and for a review of the entity structure, while unhelpful, was entirely irrelevant to Italy's Balkan policy. According to De Cardona, the Italian Council of Europe members never consult with the MFA nor do they alert the GOI in advance of initiatives such as the PACE resolution on Bosnia. The resolutions do not provide a basis for policy guidance nor do they bind the GOI to implement its results. Nevertheless, De Cardona agreed that the resolution, coming before highly contested national elections, was poorly timed. He undertook to ensure that Italian MFA public statements on Bosnian constitutional reform downplay the PACE resolution. Additionally, he pledged to look into how the Italian PACE representatives determine their position on similar votes. ¶2. (C) On Bosnia in general, De Cardona noted that after the failure of the current constitutional reform effort and with the upcoming elections, the international community should carefully consider the timing of any new push for major initiatives prior to the end of the year. The GOI was concerned that events in Bosnia could have a further destabilizing effect on Belgrade just as Kosovo status talks enter a critical phase. SPOGLI