VZCZCXRO0540
PP RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLZ RUEHROV
DE RUEHGV #0913 3051654
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 311654Z OCT 08
FM USMISSION GENEVA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7364
INFO RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 2848
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUEHSUN/USUN ROME IT

UNCLAS GENEVA 000913 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR IO/T 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON ECIN
SUBJECT: ITALIAN UNECE CANDIDATE BELIEVES SYG BAN MAY ACT QUICKLY ON 
EXEC SEC POST 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED 
 
¶1. (U) Paolo Garonna, Deputy Executive Secretary of the UN Economic 
Commission for Europe (UNECE), met with Charge October 31 to seek 
USG support for his bid to be appointed by UN SYG Ban Ki-Moon as the 
UNECE Executive Secretary.  Marek Belka is departing as ExecSec to 
work as an IMF Director in DC. 
 
¶2.  (U) Garonna listed three major points favoring his candidacy. 
First, he noted his American ties, having studied as a Fullbright 
scholar in Denver.  Second, he painted himself as a reformer, having 
eliminated some unneeded programs at UNECE that duplicated 
macroeconomic analysis being performed at the IMF.  Third, he noted 
his experience at UNECE has developed his technical competence and 
strengthened his dedication to a pan-European approach. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Garonna noted that the USG had announced it supported his 
candidacy last time the position was open, but unfortunately he got 
that message only hours before hearing that Belka had gotten the 
job.  While he appreciated very much the USG support, he indicated 
it would be better this time if the USG could decide who to support 
before the decision is made.  He added that Belka had told him that 
SYG Ban had said he intended to make his decision quickly - 'within 
the month' - which might mean October or November. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Garonna added that the process has been somewhat opaque, as 
he has only heard indirectly who might be the other candidates: the 
Bulgarian current Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister; the 
Romanian Foreign Minister; maybe the Macedonian former Foreign 
Minister and outgoing UNGA President (even though he was recently 
named by UNSYG as the special envoy for climate change); and a 
Polish professor.  He had not seen the press reports about a 
Slovakian candidate, and knew of no other candidates.  On the other 
hand, Belka's appointment last time also had come out of the blue, 
as not even the Polish Ambassador in Geneva appeared to have known 
about it beforehand (and had thrown a dinner to support Garonna's 
candidacy). 
 
¶5.  (SBU) The Charge said that the U.S. would like to see leadership 
at the UNECE that would:  continue and consolidate reform; help 
stabilize and further integrate countries of Eastern Europe, the 
Caucasus and Central Asia; and further strengthen trans-Atlantic 
ties.  He pleded to relay to Washington and USUN New York Garonn's 
points, including his view that a decision miht be made by the SYG 
soon. 
STORELLA#