US embassy cable - 05ROME1263

UNCLAS ROME 001263 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, IT, MGMT, ITALY NATIONAL ELECTIONS 
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S FAREWELL CALL ON MAYOR OF ROME 
 
1. (SBU) Summary. In his farewell call on Walter Veltroni, 
Mayor of Rome, the Ambassador lauded the city's handling of 
the Pope's funeral and its support for the Embassy over the 
years.  On the political front, Veltroni, a member of the 
Democrats of the Left (DS) and potential center-left 
candidate for Prime Minister, was doubtful that the 
center-right would win in the upcoming national elections. 
End summary. 
 
2. (SBU) The Ambassador began his April 13 call on the Mayor 
by complimenting Veltroni for Rome's successful management of 
last week's funeral for Pope John Paul II, and thanked him 
especially for Rome's support for the US delegation, which 
included the President and Mrs. Bush, two former presidents, 
Secretary Rice and NSA Hadley, and 40 members of Congress. 
 
SIPDIS 
Veltroni estimated that three million people -- and 1,700 
VIPs -- visited Rome to pay their last respects. 
Fortunately, he said, the city of Rome already had a plan 
prepared, as it does for many contingencies.  Five to six 
thousand police and 20,000 municipal officers helped keep the 
city secure and clean.  There were no major incidents of 
theft, illness, or accidents, and all the major piazzas were 
clean within two hours of the conclusion of the funeral.  In 
addition to providing two million bottles of water (and 3,500 
portable toilets), Veltroni cited the "psychological factor" 
of having plenty of city volunteers and sanitary officials on 
site as an important factor in maintaining order.  He 
anticipated much smaller crowds (hundreds of thousands, "like 
having dinner at home") for the inauguration of the new pope. 
 Veltroni said he met with New York Mayor Bloomberg and 
former President Clinton during their visits. 
 
3. (SBU) The Ambassador also thanked Veltroni for his support 
in the Embassy's acquisition of the new "Sembler" building, 
as well as security improvements to the Embassy as a whole. 
Veltroni assured the Ambassador that the Embassy would 
continue to receive excellent support from the city of Rome. 
 
4. (SBU) Turning to politics, Veltroni called this a "dark 
moment" for the Berlusconi government, which lost 11 out of 
13 regions in the April 3-4 elections (septel).  (Comment. 
Veltroni is a potential challenger to Romano Prodi as 
center-left candidate for Prime Minister, although this is 
less likely after the left's good showing in the elections. 
PM Berlusconi has commented to us on several occasions that, 
while he has nothing to fear from Prodi as an opponent, 
Veltroni would present a challenge.  End comment.)  Veltroni 
noted that it is the first time in ten years that the 
center-left received, in absolute terms, more votes than the 
center-right.  The situation could be much different in a 
year, he said, but Italy's severe economic and budget 
situations, combined with a "leadership crisis" in the 
center-right, mean things will probably get worse for the 
center-right.  He doubted, however, that Berlusconi would 
call for new elections before June, since that would mean 
dissolving Parliament by next week.  He also did not believe 
they would occur next fall, since the budget bill would not 
yet be passed, which Berlusconi needed to do to meet the 
three percent budget deficit called for under the EU 
stability pact to avoid facing EU penalties. 
 
5. (SBU) Veltroni agreed with the Ambassador that Italy had 
been especially hard hit by the conversion from the Lira to 
the Euro due to a lack of price controls, though the city of 
Rome negotiated an agreement with local retailers that helped 
control inflation in Rome.  Veltroni opined that the French 
referendum on the EU constitution will be a decisive moment 
for the EU; if the French vote no, he said, it will be a 
"disaster" for Europe.  (Note: Veltroni hosted last October's 
ceremonial signing of the EU constitution by EU leaders in 
Rome's City Hall.  End note.) 
 
6. (SBU) Veltroni will travel to New York next week where he 
will meet with Senators Kennedy and Clinton, former Mayor 
Giuliani, NBA Commissioner David Stern, and Wall Street 
representatives, and give a speech at Columbia University. 
 
SEMBLER 
 
 
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	2005ROME01263 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED