VZCZCXRO9434
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHBM #0717/01 2541138
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 101138Z SEP 08
FM AMEMBASSY BUCHAREST
TO RUEHSF/AMEMBASSY SOFIA PRIORITY 4998
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8690
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHMCSUU/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BUCHAREST 000717 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/CE, OES, AND H 
H PLEASE PASS TO SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS, KMEYERS 
SOFIA FOR FAS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAGR ETRD ENRG ECON PGOV PREL TBIO RO
SUBJECT: ROMANIA: SEN. LUGAR PRESSES MINISTER OF 
ENVIRONMENT ON BIOTECHNOLOGY, CLIMATE CHANGE 
 
REF: A. A) BUCHAREST 687 
     ¶B. B) BUCHAREST 689 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary.  Highlighting his experience as a farmer, 
visiting Senator Richard Lugar on August 28 encouraged 
Minister of Environment Attila Korodi to permit the use of 
more advanced agricultural methods in Romania, including 
biotechnology.  Korodi indicated a willingness to reevaluate 
his positions as technology improves, but said he remains 
focused on traceability issues and the potential harm that 
GMO contamination could do to Romania's organic food 
industry.  On energy, both agreed on the importance of 
increasing energy efficiency and finding new sources of 
supply, but differed over the best approach for combating 
climate change.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Continuing on some of the themes that he had 
explored in an earlier meeting with Foreign Minister Lazar 
Comanescu (ref B), Lugar raised the importance of reducing 
trade barriers and intensely utilizing technology, such as 
GMO seeds, in order to combat hunger, especially in African 
countries experiencing food shortages.  While admitting that 
high prices were good for farmers like himself, Lugar 
encouraged Korodi to focus on the importance of freeing 
farmers to grow and export whatever is needed to feed an 
increasingly hungry world.  In acknowledging the overall 
importance of this goal, Korodi countered that Romania is 
hampered by EU agricultural policies, which have a direct 
effect on Romania's ability to achieve the highest possible 
agricultural output.  Korodi also pointed to Romania's rich 
biodiversity and the country's role as one of the biggest EU 
producers of organic food, an industry that he feels would be 
imperiled by more intensive GMO use.  Turning to the 
cultivation of Monsanto's MON 810 corn, Korodi said he 
supported the efforts of the national Biosafety Commission 
(BSC), which has been tasked with evaluating the safety of 
MON 810 for use in Romania. (Comment: One of the 
commissioners recently briefed Emboff on the BSC's 
deliberations, and said that the consensus decision will 
likely be that MON 810 is safe to plant.  It is unclear 
whether Korodi was aware of this at the time of his meeting 
with Senator Lugar.  End Comment.)  Korodi did admit, 
however, that improving technology and enhanced traceability 
methods might make GMO cultivation less risky from an 
environmental standpoint. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Turning to energy and the environment, both Lugar 
and Korodi agreed on the overall importance of increasing 
energy efficiency and seeking new energy supplies.  Korodi 
highlighted Romania's role as a large renewable energy 
producer with established hydroelectric facilities, and also 
remarked on the potential for the use of wind power, 
biofuels, and biomass.  Increasing the penetration of these 
technologies will allow Romania to reduce dependence on 
increasingly expensive imported energy sources.  Lugar agreed 
with this goal, but also encouraged Romania to think broadly 
and engage with the U.S. directly on issues such as climate 
change, arguing that it is unfair to ask American consumers 
in Indiana (where coal-fired plants account for 94 percent of 
electricity generation) to shut their plants while China 
builds three new coal plants per week.  Pointing out that new 
technology was delivering climate change solutions, Lugar 
remarked that Indiana farmers were using no-till agricultural 
methods, planting trees, and buying more fuel-efficient 
vehicles, all of which should be considered as part of a 
global solution.  Korodi acknowledged Lugar's argument, but 
also said that Romania would closely adhere to EU positions 
on climate change. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Comment.  Post's relationship with the Ministry of 
Environment under Korodi has occasionally been difficult, due 
in part to perceptions at the Ministry that Romania, as an EU 
member, and the U.S. have little in common on issues such as 
agricultural biotechnology and climate change.  However, 
Lugar's visit did highlight some possible opportunities, such 
as in promotion of renewable energy, for increased 
cooperation.  Perhaps expecting a more contentious meeting, 
Korodi seemed disarmed by Lugar's ready acknowledgement of 
the importance of environmental stewardship and the role that 
farmers can play in this process.  Korodi appeared open to 
American ideas, such as the expanded use of wind energy and 
farmland as part of carbon capture schemes, and American 
technology, such as improvements in the efficiency of 
automobiles and farm equipment, as tools in addressing 
 
BUCHAREST 00000717  002 OF 002 
 
 
climate change.  Furthermore, Korodi did acknowledge that 
improving technologies could possibly sway him on the merits 
of GMO cultivation, which Romania is under intense pressure 
from some EU quarters to restrict or ban outright.  Post will 
work to expand on these openings with the Ministry in the 
coming months.  End Comment. 
TAUBMAN