ICAO: ITALY "POSITIVE" ON VOSS CANDIDACY

UNCLAS ROME 000339 SIPDIS SENSITIVE IO/T L TOBEY EB/TRA/OTP MATTINGLEY E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAIR PREL IT AVIATION FAA SUBJECT: ICAO: ITALY "POSITIVE" ON VOSS CANDIDACY REF: SECSTATE 11373 Sensitive but Unclassified. Please protect accordingly. ¶1. (SBU) Econoff delivered reftel demarche to Roberto Pietrosanto and Stefano Nicoletti, two office-director-level officials in the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Directorate for Multilateral Economic and Financial Cooperation. Both said the GOI would not make a final decision on who to vote for as ICAO Secretary General until receiving feedback on the candidates' interviews with the ICAO Council. Pietrosanto, however, said that the GOI was "very positive" about William Voss. Pietrosanto, while not explicitly suggesting a vote swap, stated that the GOI hoped to receive USG support in its campaign to win a seat on ICAO's Air Navigation Committee. ¶2. (U) Econoff also spoke with Emilia Chiavarelli, Director for Economic Regulation at ENAC (Italy's FAA equivalent),a part of the Ministry of Transportation. Chiavarelli did not offer a response, other than to say she would confer with colleagues in other EU member states. ¶3. (U) Comment: We believe this decision lies with both Italy's Ministry of Transportation/ENAC and the MFA. The Embassy will continue to press for Voss at high levels. Ambassador Spogli is sending letters to Transport Minister Pietro Lunardi and ENAC President Vito Riggio. Furthermore, FAA Senior Representative Kurt Edwards will visit Italy February 9-10 for additional meetings on ICAO. End comment. SPOGLI