ITALIANS POSITIVE ON GLOBAL INITIATIVE TO COMBAT

C O N F I D E N T I A L ROME 002568 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR ISN/WMDT E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/08/2016 TAGS: KGIC PREL PGOV IT SUBJECT: ITALIANS POSITIVE ON GLOBAL INITIATIVE TO COMBAT NUCLEAR TERRORISM REF: ROME 1954 Classified By: Classified by David D. Pearce, Political Minister Counse lor, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary. On September 7, ISN/WMDT officials Katsapis and Lehrman met with Italian MFA officials Filippo Formica, head of the nonproliferation office, Giampaolo Cantini, head of the counterterrorism office, and Carlo Mancini, a GOI expert on nuclear safety. Vladimir Proshin, Political Counselor of the Russian Embassy Rome and a Russian poloff notetaker were also present at the meeting. Lehrman and Katsapis explained USG goals for the GI, outlined the timeline for upcoming GI events and asked the GOI for its views on potential Italian areas of contribution and expertise. Formica said that Italy has worked on implementing every protocol, control regime, UN Security Council resolution and treaty related to nuclear terrorism and would likely be actively involved in the GI. Formica also noted that Italy would participate in a proposed GI conference and pledged to carefully examine any GI proposals as they become available. End Summary. ¶2. (C) On September 7, ISN/WMDT officials Katsapis and Lehrman met with GOI officials to provide details of the GI and outline the current timetable for future meetings. They also encouraged Italy to provide input into what kind of expertise could be useful to the initiative and urged GOI officials to think ahead to concrete implementation of measures and procedures that would benefit the GI. Lehrman and Katsapis asked the Italians whether there was any particular expertise and experience that the GOI could provide and asked whether the EU had any competencies that could either contribute or detract from the program. ¶3. (C) Formica stated that Italy was a committed partner in efforts to stop the proliferation of dangerous technologies and weapons of mass destruction. He noted that Italy had implemented all major international protocols, treaties, and UNSCRs relevant to the issue. Mancini added that in Italy's view, while the EU had addressed the issue of nuclear safety, there was no structure in place to address nuclear security. Formica told Lehrman and Katsapis that Italy had been a strong supporter of the Proliferation Security Initiative and had gained valuable experience from the practical exercises under the PSI. He added that before any exercises could be conducted under the GI, Italy would have to establish an interagency process and procedures. ¶4. (C) With respect to the EU and GI, Formica underscored that Justice, Freedom and Security are not devolved to Brussels, so the GOI did not envision a problem in terms of competence over GI matters. Nevertheless, he observed that it would be useful to involve the EU in this initiative because Brussels does have some competency over the circulation of goods in the Union. Formica also noted that including the EU is important because the EU has a common strategy on non-proliferation and the GOI expects to discuss the GI among member-states. ¶5. (C) On participation in the GI, Formica added that Italy is very interested and would participate in upcoming international meetings and conferences organized under the GI. However, Formica said that the GOI will need time to carefully study all documents related to the GI, and try to fit it into the multi-faceted interagency process in Italy. ¶6. (C) Comment. Italy is a committed partner in nonproliferation efforts and will likely be a strong partner in the Global Initiative. Both Cantini and Formica, however, have expressed the need for greater documentation on this program in order to begin implementation through the establishment of interagency processes and procedures, which is likely to take several weeks. Post urges ISN/WMDT to provide as much documentation as possible prior to the next GI event in order to allow the Italians sufficient time to participate substantively. SPOGLI