ITALY: UN REFORM PARTNER, SUPPORTS GUATEMALA UNSC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ROME 000585 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/16/2016 TAGS: PREL KUNR PHUM UNSC GT VE IT SUBJECT: ITALY: UN REFORM PARTNER, SUPPORTS GUATEMALA UNSC BID REF: A. STATE 4746 ¶B. STATE 4745 ¶C. ROME-S/UNR TELCON ¶D. STATE 20173 ¶E. ROME 433 ¶F. STATE 22833 Classified By: Political Minister Counselor David D. Pearce for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary. Italy continues to support UN Reform, including making the new Peacebuilding Commission an effective body, and creating a strong Human Rights Council. It also supports improving UN management, including a mandate review, according to MFA UN Reform Coordinator Alessandro Busacca. Busacca noted that Italy had made several bilateral demarches on UN Reform issues to key countries. While Italy had not made its position known publicly, Busacca said the GOI would support Guatemala's bid for the 2007-8 Latin America Group non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council. Reflecting on the upcoming UN Secretary General appointment, Busacca noted that Italy would be coordinating with the EU and agreed the next SYG would need to be a good manager, not necessarily from Asia. End Summary. -------------- UN Reform: Italy Supporting our Shared Agenda -------------- ¶2. (C) Poloff met February 16 with Busacca to follow up on a UN Reform demarche (Ref A, B) delivered January 13 (Ref C), urge Italy to support Guatemala for the 2007-8 Latin America Group (GRULAC) non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council (UNSC) (Ref D, E),and discuss the UN Secretary General (SYG) succession (Ref F). ¶3. (C) Italy recognized the UN is not performing the way it should, according to Busacca, and is fully supportive of UN Reform efforts, sharing the U.S. approach. Busacca noted that Italy was pleased with the outcome of the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) negotiations and would work with the EU to ensure that Europe continued to contribute to work on all aspects of the PBC, especially when there is EU political or economic involvement in an operation. In the UN list of top financial contributors, Italy jumped from tenth to sixth place (behind the U.S., Japan, UK, Germany, and the Netherlands) after the SYG's final statement was released. Busacca noted that this ensures Italy will be a member of the PBC organizational committee, and that the GOI would work to make the commission an effective body. Acknowledging the coordination challenges the PBC will face, Busacca said Italy planned to create a national inter-ministerial committee to coordinate the GOI's involvement. He highlighted Italy's goal to be proactive in designating crises, and to bring ideas to the PBC. ¶4. (C) Negotiations on forming a Human Rights Council (HRC) were still encountering difficulties, according to Busacca, but Italy had played an active role in moving forward. He said Italy wanted to strengthen the UN's capabilities in the field of human rights and wanted to ensure a strong HRC, even if it meant longer negotiations. He provided Poloff with a copy of the February 6 EU statement on the HRC. Italy also agreed on the importance of Management Reform, including a mandate review, Busacca said. He observed that there was close cooperation between the U.S. and Italian missions to the UN on this issue, and that there had been good coordination among the EU countries. ¶5. (C) Busacca noted that Italy had carried out bilateral demarches in several countries, including South Africa, Argentina, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brazil, and India, to encourage support for UN Reform. Poloff expressed appreciation for Italy's efforts and urged the GOI to continue to speak out on the reform agenda. Busacca noted that Italy was willing to work bilaterally on the issue and the MFA was considering another set of demarches. -------------- UNSC GRULAC Seat: Yes to Guatemala -------------- ¶6. (C) Poloff provided Reftel D points to Busacca and urged Italy to support Guatemala's UNSC bid. Italian MFA Director General for the Americas Claudio Bisogniero had told ROME 00000585 002 OF 002 Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs Thomas Shannon February 3 that Italy was supportive of Guatemala's candidacy (Ref E). February 16 Busacca confirmed that Italy would vote for Guatemala. Like Bisogniero, he highlighted the fact that Italy would also hold a non-permanent UNSC seat during 2007-8, and that Venezuela's presence on the council would be disruptive. Busacca noted that Italy had not made it's position public, and was not eager to do so, taking into account its bilateral relationship with Venezuela. -------------- UN SYG Succession: Initial Thoughts -------------- ¶7. (C) Noting that it was still early in the process, Poloff shared U.S. thoughts on UN SYG succession (Reftel F), highlighting the importance of previous management experience, a commitment to reform, and the need to consider all candidates, regardless of region. Busacca noted that the GOI had been listening carefully to Ambassador Bolton's comments in New York, but that Italy had not yet reflected in-depth on the issue and would be coordinating within the EU. He pointed to a possible conflict between the U.S. position and the China/Russia view that the new SYG should come from Asia and wondered whether the selection process would continue to be a UNSC game. Italy shared our view that the next UN chief should be a good manager, and that the UN needed to be a well-run organization, according to Busacca. He noted that Asia would be better off if it could agree on one candidate, and that while one previous SYG had come from the Asia region, Eastern Europe had never been represented. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶8. (C) The MFA seems willing to continue bilateral efforts to move our shared UN Reform agenda forward, and could be open to coordinating that message with us. Pleased that its UN contributions have ensured Italy a place on the PBC organizational committee, the GOI seeks to be an active member, and to ensure the success of the new body. SPOGLI