ITALY: MURDER BY ROMANIAN SPARKS EXPULSION ORDER,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ROME 002305

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/06/2017
TAGS: PGOV KCRM PREL IT RO PHUM
SUBJECT: ITALY: MURDER BY ROMANIAN SPARKS EXPULSION ORDER,
XENOPHOBIA CONCERNS


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Classified By: Jonathan R. Cohen, Acting Political-Minister Counselor,
for reasons 1.4 b and d

SUMMARY
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1. (C/NF) The mugging and murder of an Italian woman by a
Romanian immigrant last week in Rome has set off a political
firestorm and prompted the government to issue an expulsion
decree for EU citizens residing in Italy who present a threat
to public safety. The victim's funeral was attended by a
range of leading Italian political figures, including Rome
Mayor Veltroni, National Alliance leader Fini, Interior
Minister Amato and CHOD Di Paola. All sides of the political
spectrum are now debating the expulsion decree and
immigration and security issues generally. Controversy over
growing numbers of Romanian immigrants in Italy and their
alleged ties to crime, particularly in Rome, has placed
Veltroni at the forefront of the debate. Prime Minister Prodi
will meet with Romanian Prime Minister Tariceanu on
Wednesday, November 7 in Rome.
END SUMMARY.

2.(SBU) On October 31, Giovanna Reggiani, wife of an Italian
Navy officer who is a close Embassy contact, was mugged by
Romanian immigrant Nicolae Romulus Mailat who allegedly
assaulted Reggiani at a train station and threw her comatose
body into a nearby ditch. Reggiani's death was headline news
for several days and touched a nerve with an Italian
population increasingly uneasy about immigration. Unlike
most other EU countries, Italy did not impose a moratorium on
immigration from Romania and Bulgaria when those countries
joined the EU this year. According to an annual immigration
report by Catholic charity Caritas, Romanian immigrants make
up less than one percent (approximately 556,000) of the
Italian population. The Italian Interior Ministry, however,
reports that 5.6 percent of suspects arrested on murder
charges are Romanian. Veltroni has said that 75 percent of
all arrests in the city in 2006 involved Romanians. The
Italian public's perception that most violent crime is
carried out by Romanians was reinforced by the Italian media
which highlighted several recent crimes in which Romanians
were detained as suspects, including a mugging this summer
that left a Rome cyclist in a coma for weeks before dying.

GOVERNMENT REACTS WITH EXPULSION DECREE
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3.(SBU) The new expulsion decree authorizes prefects (the
local representatives of the Ministry of Interior) to expel
EU nationals with criminal records or who present a danger to
public security; a judge must sign off on the expulsion
order. Although the decree technically covers all EU
nationals, the introductory language makes it clear that the
measure is directed against Romanians. The decree was
effective immediately upon issuance on November 1, but
Parliament must vote the decree into law within 60 days for
the measures to become permanent. As many as twenty
expulsion orders have been signed in Genoa and Rome, and
Milan's prefect expelled the first four Romanian citizens on
November 2. Authorities also tore down a squatter camp in
Rome where the alleged assailant lived.


4. (SBU) While the decree appears to have near total support
among the Italian political class, the grounds on which an
individual can be expelled and the breadth of the expulsions
are under debate. Prime Minister Prodi, who has stated that
the decree is necessary for public safety, is negotiating
with the opposition and parties in his own coalition about
the provisions of the law. The center right will not vote for
the decree without provisions to enhance it. National
Alliance leader Gianfranco Fini* one of the most vocal
lawmakers on this issue* has urged the government to expel
20,000 Romanians and said that the government's proposal is
not strict enough and should be expanded to include non-EU
citizens as well. Meanwhile, the far left is calling for the
government to scale back the decree to exclude lack of
sufficient income as grounds for expulsion. The Senate
Constitutional Affairs Committee began discussing the decree
on November 6.

5.(U) EU Security Commissioner (and former Italian Foreign
Minister) Franco Frattini stated initially that the Italian
decree is in accordance with EU law, which allows member
states to expel citizens of other EU countries if they are a
threat to public health, public security, or have

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insufficient financial means. Frattini added that Romania
has an obligation to take back its citizens who are expelled
from Italy. A European Commission spokesperson stated on
November 5, however, that the Italian decree will be further
examined by Brussels and cautioned Rome against singling out
Romanians specifically.

BLAMING CRIME ON ROMANIANS AND ROMA
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6.(SBU) The perceived responsibility of Romanian immigrants
for increased crime has contributed to widespread public
support for the expulsion decree and in some cases, a
backlash against immigrants. Although many Italian political
leaders including Prime Minister Prodi have been quick to
warn against xenophobia and discrimination, Reggiani's death
appears to have sparked retaliatory attacks against
Romanians. A group of four Romanian men were attacked by
assailants wielding clubs and knives in a supermarket parking
lot outside Rome on November 2, and a rudimentary bomb
exploded outside a Romanian-owned grocery store in Rome on
November 5.


7. (SBU) The conflation of Romanians and Roma people in the
Italian media and by political figures is a further
complication. Because many Roma who live in Italy emigrated
from Romania, some Italians assume that all Roma are
Romanians or vice versa. In Italy, there is longstanding
public prejudice against Roma and some of the criticism of
Romanian immigrants in Italy appears to originate from an
assumption that they are Roma.

SPOTLIGHT ON VELTRONI
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8. (C//NF) Rome Mayor and Democratic Party (PD) leader Walter
Veltroni placed himself at the center of the debate on
Romanian immigration when he held a press conference on
October 31 stating that Rome had become more dangerous since
Romania entered the EU and that repatriation of Romanians
might be necessary. Earlier this year, Veltroni traveled to
Romania to urge authorities there to stem the flow of
migrants, particularly Roma. Veltroni is facing criticism
from the center right for not having dealt with immigration
and crime issues as mayor, and barely a week into his tenure
as PD leader appears to have seized on the Romanian expulsion
issue to prove his security bona fides as a national figure.

GOVERNMENT REACHING OUT TO ROMANIA
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9. (SBU) Prime Minister Prodi spoke to his Romanian
counterpart, PM Tariceanu, over the weekend and with Romanian
President Basescu the morning of November 5. Tariceanu
cautioned against xenophobia and denounced the attacks
against Romanians in Rome. Prodi told the press that there
was no diplomatic friction between the two countries;
Tariceanu will travel to Rome on November 7 to discuss
immigration and security issues with Prodi.

COMMENT
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10. (C/NF) After generations of being a country of
emigration, Italy is now struggling to integrate
approximately 3.7 million immigrants - a population that has
increased by as much as 20 percent since 2006, according to
Caritas. Italy is only beginning to develop a national
immigration policy, despite increasing immigrant flows and
widespread acknowledgment that demographic trends necessitate
low-cost immigrant labor. The Romanian case highlights
widespread fear among Italian citizens that poverty and crime
among immigrant communities are a threat to Italian society.
END COMMENT.
SPOGLI