ROMANIA LIKELY TO CO-SPONSOR HOLOCAUST

UNCLAS BUCHAREST 000863 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR IO/UNESCO; PARIS PLEASE PASS TO UNESCO E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: UNESCO PREL RO SUBJECT: ROMANIA LIKELY TO CO-SPONSOR HOLOCAUST REMEMBERANCE RESOLUTION AT UNESCO REF: STATE 99959 ¶1. (SBU) Poloff delivered reftel points on July 25, to Daniel Tanase and Edward Iosiper, respectively the MFA Director and Deputy Director for Middle East and Africa Affairs. They said that the draft resolution was completely compatible with Romania's own national policy regarding the Holocaust, including the fact that since 2003, it is a crime in Romania to deny the Holocaust took place. They noted that Romania already has put in place its own Holocaust educational programs, including a memorial site, school programs, and a dedicated museum, among other activities. They recognized that the UNESCO effort may help with Iran, and reported that they had called in the Iranian ambassador recently to ask Tehran to be more moderate in its rhetoric and not to make inflammatory remarks especially concerning the Holocaust. While the mandate for co-sponsorship will have to be vetted through the interagency committee, they fully expected Romania to co-sponsor the draft. ¶2. (SBU) Comment: Tanase is a member of the GOR Holocaust Task Force and Iosiper is the Ambassador-designate to Israel. TAUBMAN