VZCZCXRO0670
OO RUEHAG RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHRO #2195 2161214
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 041214Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY ROME
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5544
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS PRIORITY
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHFL/AMCONSUL FLORENCE PRIORITY 1622
RUEHMIL/AMCONSUL MILAN PRIORITY 7459
RUEHNP/AMCONSUL NAPLES PRIORITY 1718

C O N F I D E N T I A L ROME 002195 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/03/2016 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM FI BU EUN IT
SUBJECT: ITALY: INVITATION TO BURMESE FM AN EU EXPERIMENT 
 
REF: A. STATE 124139 
 
     ¶B. BARRASSO-DERETIC 1/20/06 E-MAIL 
 
Classified By: Acting Political Minister-Counselor E. Candace Putnam fo 
r reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1. (C) Poloff delivered Ref A demarche to Giuseppe Mistretta, 
MFA Office Director for Southeast Asia, August 2, stressing 
U.S. disappointment with the Finnish Government's decision to 
invite the Burmese Foreign Minister to the September ASEM 
meeting in Helsinki.  Mistretta responded that the invitation 
was a bit of an experiment within the EU, giving member 
states an opportunity to voice their concerns about human 
rights and the need for democracy building to a 
representative of the Burmese government, rather than just 
talking to themselves.  He noted that the EU did not want a 
repetition of the Rotterdam meeting and the potential 
negative impact on overall EU-ASEAN relations (Ref B). 
Poloff pointed out that recently ASEAN itself had been more 
critical of the Burmese regime, and that the Foreign Minister 
was not in a position to usefully convey back EU concerns. 
Mistretta asked if the U.S. had a particular official in mind 
as an alternative to the Foreign Minister. 
 
¶2. (C) Noting that Finland was on the pro-dialogue side of 
the internal EU debate, as was Italy, Mistretta said the EU 
countries who were opposed to contact with the Burmese regime 
(UK, Denmark, Netherlands) had compromised instead of making 
the difference of opinion public.  For Italy, according to 
Mistretta, Helsinki would provide an opportunity to create a 
"very" critical dialogue, rather than allowing Burma's 
leadership to become ever more isolated.  However, Mistretta 
reiterated that this decision was based on a compromise among 
EU states and he expected countries that had been critical of 
the current position to push for a reevaluation of EU policy 
before too long. 
SPOGLI