VZCZCXRO6175
PP RUEHRN
DE RUEHRO #1206 3061248
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 021248Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY ROME
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2832
INFO RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY 4873
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 1046
RUEHRC/USDA FAS WASHDC PRIORITY 4648
RUEHRC/USDA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHRN/USMISSION UN ROME PRIORITY 0261

UNCLAS ROME 001206 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
IO: FOR JOHN TUMINARO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: FAO EFIN AORC EAGR EAID KUNR UN
SUBJECT: ITALY UNWILLING TO TAKE A POSITION ON FAO BUDGET 
DISPUTE, DUE TO HOST GOVERNMENT CONCERNS 
 
REF: SECSTATE 96467 
 
 ¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY: The GOI will not/not divulge their 
position on the proposed Food and Agriculture Organization 
FAO budget increase because the FAO'S location in Rome, 
according to GOI officials, renders the situation "delicate" 
A senior GOI foreign assistance official said the GOI 
supports some aspects of the emerging European Union (EU) 
position on it, but likely will differ with the EU position 
on the overall budget increase level. END SUMMARY 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Post on October 5 conveyed to a senior official in 
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) the USG's opposition to 
the FAO budget increase and our request to the GOI to 
likewise oppose it (reftel). Repeated attempts to elicit a 
response were unsuccessful; the MFA referred us to the 
Italian Mission to the FAO for a substantive reply. We 
explained that we were asking the GOI to direct the Mission 
to oppose the budget increase. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) On October 29, MFA Counselor Mauro Massoni, the 
office director responsible for Italy's assistance to 
multilateral organizations, finally told ECONOFF that, "we 
are unwilling to state our position on this issue because of 
the delicacy of the situation." He further explained that, 
because the FAO is based in Rome, the GOI finds it awkward to 
publicly oppose the proposed budget increase. Our USUN 
colleagues have received the same explanation from the 
Italian Mission to the FAO. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) On November 2, Massoni shared with ECONOFF the 
results of the October 27 European Council FAO Coordination 
Working Party meeting. He said that while Italy supports some 
proposals in the EU Presidency options paper, such as those 
regarding medical coverage and retirement, Italy likely will 
differ with the proposals on the overall budget increase. 
ECONOFF has forwarded the EU meeting minutes to John Tuminaro 
in IO/HS. 
THORNE