ITALY'S RESPONSES TO 2010 NPT REVCON REPORTING

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ROME 001058 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/20/2019 TAGS: AORC CDG ENRG IAEA KNNP MNUC PARM PGOV PREL UNGA, NPT SUBJECT: ITALY'S RESPONSES TO 2010 NPT REVCON REPORTING REQUEST REF: STATE 83600 ROME 00001058 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: Political Military Counselor J. Liam Wasley for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) On August 27, PolOff delivered reftel demarche to MFA director for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation Giovanni Pugliese, who subsequently provided the following responses to the reftel NPT-related questions: --Italy is very supportive of the CTBT, FMCT, NPT and U.S.-Russia arms control efforts. Pugliese noted that Italy has ratified the CTBT and would welcome U.S. ratification. Furthermore,Italy is keen to work with EU partners and the U.S. in all upcoming fora and collaborates with fellow EU members in order to reach common EU positions and statements. --The Italian MFA is in daily contact with the Ministry of Defense (MOD; main POC is Col. Amadei) on nonproliferation issues and the MOD has a crucial technical role during negotiations. The MFA also consults the customs authorities, and intelligence services on the arms control and non-proliferation policymaking process. --The MFA's Directorate General for Multilateral Cooperation and Human Rights, headed by Minister Luca Giansanti (Deputy Director is Filippo Formica),has the lead in the decision-making process on arms control and nonproliferation issues and contacts other ministries and GOI agencies for their input. The agencies involved and the degree of their involvement depends on the issue; the Ministries of Defense, Interior, Finance and the Economy and the customs authorities are usually in the loop. --In Italy's New York mission, the officer responsible for arms control and nonproliferation is First Secretary Paolo Cuculi. The key contacts in Geneva are Ambassador Giovanni Manfredi and First Secretary Nicoletta Piccirillo. In Vienna, Ambassador Gianni Ghisi and Pugliese's predecessor at the MFA, Emanuele Farruggia constitute the nonproliferation team. The staff at missions is augmented by attendance of one or more MFA representatives during conferences and key meetings. Post has worked closely and collegially with Manfredi, Ghisi and Farruggia in the past. Before moving to their current positions, Manfredi headed the MFA Economic Directorate office responsible for energy, space, defense trade, and nuclear policy; Ghisi served as Diplomatic Advisor to the Minister of Health. Manfredi, Ghisi and Farruggia all speak English very well. --While Italy currently does not have nuclear energy power plants, ENEA (the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy, and the Environment) carries out nuclear research projects in cooperation with EU and international organizations. ENEA contributes to EURATOM projects and maintains a liaison office in Brussels to manage relations with the EU and EURATOM. (Note: EURATOM is the official owner of nuclear fissile material transferred from the U.S. for research at ENEA. End note.) ENEA is also represented in IAEA working groups and ENEA experts participate in OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) standing committees. Italian delegations to IAEA meetings often include an ENEA expert to provide technical expertise. --Italy made nonproliferation a centerpiece issue during its 2009 G8 Presidency and the July G8 Summit in L'Aquila produced a number of documents on advancing nonproliferation goals, including the L'Aquila Statement on Non-Proliferation. It has welcomed the President's stated intention to ratify the CTBT. Earlier in 2009, FM Frattini hosted a very senior seminar chaired by former Soviet President Gorbachev and former Secretary Schultz on advancing next steps for the NPT. --Through the G8 Global Partnership Working Group (GPWG) Italy funds nuclear submarine dismantlement, spent fuel and radioactive waste management projects, and chemical weapons destruction projects in Russia, and has contributed 33 million Euros to the Ukraine's Chernobyl Shelter Fund (Note: An additional 8.5 million Euros have been approved by the Italian parliament. End note.). Italy has also funded and ROME 00001058 002.2 OF 002 run scientific capacity-building training projects in Iraq and the Kyrgyz Republic. --Gianluca Alberini of the MFA's DG for Multilateral Political Cooperation is organizing an October 26 Scientists Engagement Workshop: "Opportunities to Prevent Proliferation by Enhancing Best Practice and Professional Responsibility." The October 26 Workshop will be followed by an enlarged GPWG meeting on October 27 to include, in addition to the G-8, 14 other countries and the Ukraine. Alberini recently noted that under its G-8 presidency Italy has made GPWG geographic and functional expansion a priority. ¶2. (C) Comment: We anticipate that Italy will continue to be a reliable partner in strengthening the NPT and working toward tangible results at the 2010 NPT RevCon. As reported in ROME 135 (Post's response to STATE 6970),advancing the FMCT continues to be a priority for Italy; it is working within the EU framework to achieve this. End comment. THORNE