US embassy cable - 04ROME4426

C O N F I D E N T I A L  ROME 004426 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
C O R R E C T E D  C O P Y (PARAGRAPHS 1 & 2) 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/18/2029 
TAGS: PINR, PREL, PGOV, IT, ITALIAN POLITICS 
SUBJECT: GIANFRANCO FINI IS (FINALLY) ITALY,S NEW FOREIGN 
MINISTER; BIO INFORMATION 
 
REF: A. ROME 4313 
     B. ROME 4268 
 
Classified By: POL MINCOUNS THOMAS COUNTRYMAN, REASONS 1.5 (D). 
 
1.  (C)  SUMMARY:  Gianfranco Fini was (finally) appointed 
Italy's new Foreign Minister on November 18, following 
constant speculation on this outcome since the October 30 
resignation of Rocco Buttiglione as Italy's nominee to the 
new European Commission and his replacement by ex-FM Franco 
Frattini.  PM Berlusconi seems to have failed -- for now -- 
in his apparent attempt to use the potential nomination and 
other job appointments within the Government as leverage to 
bring his coalition into line and secure compromise (some 
might say capitulation) on his desired tax cuts; tax and 
budget negotiations continue.  The official Italian news 
agency suggests Fini will retain his Deputy Prime Minister 
title, but still no word on whether Union of Christian 
Democrats of the Center (UDC) leader Marco Follini will be 
DPM as well.  Fini is avowedly pro-American; we expect him to 
support Italy's current foreign policy priorities, including 
its strong support for us in Iraq.  (See also Ref A.)  While 
the tax and budget issues are highly contentious within the 
governing coalition, we do not expect them to topple the 
Berlusconi Government.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  (U)  Gianfranco Fini was appointed Foreign Minister on 
November 18, 2004, replacing outgoing FM Franco Frattini, who 
became European Union Commissioner and EU Commission Vice 
President the same day.  Prior to the appointment, Fini 
served as the Italian Government's Deputy Prime Minister 
since June 2001, in the wake of the victory of PM Silvio 
Berlusconi's center-right coalition at the general elections 
in May.  In February 2002, Fini was named the Italian 
Government's representative to the Convention to develop the 
draft treaty of a new European Union Constitution.  This 
experience increased his international exposure and allowed 
Italy,s European interlocutors to know him more closely.  At 
the conclusion of the Convention's work in early 2004, Fini 
stepped up his foreign travels, gaining even greater 
visibility abroad.  From February through November 2004, he 
traveled officially to Al Nasiriyah (Iraq, to visit the 
Italian troops), Riga, Tallin, Paris, Washington, D.C., 
Berlin, Hanoi, New York City (for the Columbus Day 
celebrations), Cairo, Moscow, Kabul, and Jerusalem.  Earlier 
travels included all the Central and Eastern European 
capitals, Madrid, London, and again Jerusalem. 
 
3.  (U)  Fini's tenure as Deputy Prime Minister was his first 
experience in government, although he has a long history in 
politics.  Fini is a member of the Chamber of Deputies, to 
which he was elected in 1983 and re-elected in 1987, 1992, 
1994, 1996, and 2001.  He was also a member of the European 
Parliament, to which he was elected in 1989, 1994, and again 
in 1999, relinquishing his position in 2001 to assume his 
Government commitments.  In Parliament, until his entry into 
Government in 2001, he was an active member of the 
Constitutional Affairs, Public Works, Defense, Foreign 
Affairs/EU Policies, and Finance Committees, promoting 
numerous draft laws in all. 
4.  (U)  Fini is also the President of National Alliance 
(AN), the party he created in 1994 upon dissolution of the 
neo-fascist Italian Social Movement (MSI).  Previously, Fini 
led the MSI as its Secretary from 1991 to 1994, and earlier 
from 1987 to 1990.  Although the MSI was a legal political 
force in the post-World War II Italian Republic, its links 
with Mussolini's Fascist Party prevented it from part of a 
coalition government through an unwritten pact among the 
Italian electorate and political forces. 
 
5.  (U)  Fifty years after the fall of Fascism, Fini saw the 
need to discard nostalgia and provide his electorate with a 
standing equal to that of Italy,s other voters.  He 
criticized Fascism on several occasions since 1994, but never 
so clearly as his statements at the conclusion of a meeting 
with Israeli PM Ariel Sharon in Jerusalem in November 2003, 
when in response to specific press queries, Fini said Fascism 
was the &absolute evil,8 and added that the &negative 
pages8 in Italian history include &all those on the 
discrimination and persecution of Jews and other 
minorities,8 thereby directly rejecting the policies of 
Mussolini's Fascist Republic.  AN has been a solid member of 
Berlusconi's center-right coalition since its inception in 
1994. 
 
6.  (U)  Fini's political activity goes back to his high 
school days, when he joined the MSI and worked in the party 
full time.  He was elected to the Rome City Council with the 
MSI in 1993, 1997, and 2001, collecting more votes than any 
other candidate in the latter two elections.  From 1987 to 
 
 
1992, he was MSI City Councilor in the summer resort town of 
San Felice Circeo, near Rome.  From 1977 to 1983, he was a 
journalist in the MSI's daily newspaper &Secolo d'Italia.8 
In 1977, he was appointed Secretary of the MSI's youth group, 
the &Fronte della Gioventu,8 a position he retained for ten 
years.  That same year, he graduated from the University of 
Rome with a degree in psychology. 
 
7.  (C)  Fini was born in Bologna on January 3, 1952.  He is 
married to Daniela Fini and has one daughter.  Mrs. Fini 
rarely appears in public with her husband, and is the subject 
of gossip as being coarse, crude, and an embarrassment to the 
smooth politician.  His favorite hobbies are scuba diving, 
cross country kiing, and reading.  He does not speak English. 
 
8.  (C)  COMMENT:  As noted Ref A, Fini -- an experienced 
politician with his own constituency -- can be expected to be 
somewhat more independent of PM Berlusconi than was Forza 
Italia and Berlusconi loyalist Frattini.  Fini's interests in 
being Foreign Minister include strengthening his own 
credibility as a future Prime Minister and improving AN's 
electoral chances in 2005 regional and eventual national 
elections.  To accomplish these, he must continue to 
differentiate himself from Berlusconi.  This does not 
portend, however, radical changes in Italy's foreign policy. 
Fini is avowedly pro-American and inter alia a strong 
advocate of Italy's support for the U.S. in Iraq. 
 
 
SEMBLER 
 
 
NNNN 
	2004ROME04426 - Classification: CONFIDENTIAL