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

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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