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FAO SUMMIT WILL NOT BE HELD IN ROME...
SUPERSEDES PREVIOUS
(ANSA) - Rome, August 31 - Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi said today that international summits should no longer be held in city centres, indicating that an upcoming Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) conference in Rome would have to be moved elsewhere.
"International summits mustn't be held in urban
environments. We are examining the issue with the care and diligence of fathers," Berlusconi told reporters after a cabinet meeting this morning.
"We cannot expose 'sacred1 Rome to such risks," said the centre-right leader, referring to the violence and destruction which marred the Group of Eight summit in Genoa last month.
When questioned specifically about the United Nations' FAO conference, scheduled to be held at FAO headquarters in Rome on November 5-9, Berlusconi said that "we are already
considering alternative hypotheses."
"It is by now consolidated opinion among all foreign policy protagonists that these summit shouldn't be held in city centres," he concluded.
European Union Policy Minister Rocco Buttiglione announced earlier today that the FAO summit would definitely be shifted from Rome and if possible abroad.
"We are trying to find suitable conditions elsewhere,"
Buttiglione said, adding that the government was "obviously sensitive to issues of national prestige" but was not willing to risk seeing Rome "sacked".
Berlusconi is due to meet FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf on Monday to discuss the issue.
(MORE) VB
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FAO SUMMIT WILL NOT BE HELD IN ROME... (2) SUPERSEDES PREVIOUS
The government's decision appeared to ignore a statement issued by a spokesman for UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan yesterday saying the conference would go ahead as planned.
Responding to comments made by his envoy to southern Lebanon, Steffan de Mistura, which appeared in the Italian press earlier this week, the spokesman said that Annan "supports the convening" of the conference and had "confirmed his attendance"
and stressed that de Mistura's views were "unauthorized and unwarranted."
The envoy, whose career at the UN includes ten years with FAO in Rome, said the summit should be postponed because it risked being a "failure" and because of the danger of violence by anti-globalisation protesters.
The summit will focus on the progress that has been made in fighting world famine since 1996, when the organization pledged to have halved the number of starving people in the world by 2015, but de Mistura said that it wouldn't produce any worthwhile results.
Buttiglione stressed today that "while the words of Kofi Annan should be listened to carefully, the secretary-general of FAO is Jacques Diouf so we will wait to hear what he has to say."
Turning to another upcoming international gathering, the September 26-27 NATO summit in Naples, Buttiglione said that it would go ahead as planned.
"While the safety criteria are the same as the FAO summit, it cannot be moved outside Italian borders because it
is a routine event," he said.
He promised maximum security for the NATO summit, and said that Italy's international prestige would be "safeguarded".
Meanwhile, critics of the government's plan to shift the FAO summit lost no time in opening fire.
Piero Fassino, the former Justice Minister and would-be leader of the largest opposition party, the Democratic Left, said that he shared the views of Kofi Annan and that "the Italian government must honour its international commitments."
"It makes no sense to ask that it be held elsewhere... so j that someone somewhere else will run the risks which we don't want to here," Fassino said.
Another leading Democratic Left official, Valdo Spini, called for the Lower House foreign police committee to be convened to discuss the issue and Annan's position.
VB
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1
PRESS REVIEW OF 31 AUGUST 2001 FAO WORLD FOOD SUMMIT
Yesterday's statement attributable to the Spokesman of the Secretary-General captured front-page attention in all dailies, which quoted and commented the statement, except for Berlusconi's journal 'II Giornale.' Dailies carried extensive articles which included quotes made by various political leaders both from the majority and the opposition, as well as FAO's reaction.
The major headlines read:
"Annan: The FAO Summit should be held in Rome." Subheading: The UN Secretary-General disavows de Mistura: No postponement. Pisanu: The Secretary-General should be listened with respect." "Embarrassment within the Italian Government, the opposition attacks" II Corriere della Sera
"FAO, Kofi Annan supports Rome: 'I confirm my participation in the November Conference'.'1
"Premier Berlusconi is wrong-footed by the UN. The Government tries to take its time." La Repubblica
"Annan's slap in the face." "A red light from the UN" Left-wing daily II Manifesto
"Annan: The FAO Summit should be held in Rome. Berluconi remains isolated" L'Unita
« Kofi Annan : The FAO Summit will be held in Rome. » Subheading: The UN Secretary-General disavows de Mistura: No postponement." "Who is the disavowed diplomat." " 'Scarce
possibilities, but I do not give up': Premier Berlusconi still augurs a postponement of the Summit."
Turin's La Stampa
"Annan presses for a FAO Summit in Rome." Subheadings: "Rome Mayor Veltroni to the Pope:
The FAO Summit to combat hunger must be held." "Foreign Minister Ruggiero w i l l propose to honour Italy's commitment." "Berlusconi: A postponement would be a matter of common sense."
"Minister for Relations with the Parliament, Carlo Giovanardi: "Italy does not accept impositions from anybody" (interview) II Messaggero
Excerpts taken from today's articles, editorials and interviews in the Italian press:
II Corriere della Sera (Milan's daily which carried the interview with S. de Mistura on 28 August 2001)
"There was not any sharper way to clarify the position of the UN Secretary-General: a statement in which each word is important, but considered by some of an unprecedented strong tone. The UN head conveys an explicit message to the Italian Government: I am against the postponement of the FAO Summit, the position of those who foresee a risk of failure is unfounded. 1 support my largest agency and its right to hold its World Food Summit in Rome." ... "Contrary to the conventional protocol, Annan does not hide his irritation, makes direct reference to his Personal Representative for southern Lebanon, undermines his rank of Assistant-Secretary-General, and twice disassociates from de Mistura, both in his institutional and his personal capacity." ... "The final paragraph of Annan's statement is even more significant: 'The Secretary-General supports the convening of the Conference and has confirmed his participation.' Not only Rome but he augurs: I want to
participate." ... "The FAO cannot be but satisfied. The FAO Director-General's words have been replaced by those of the supreme head Kofi Annan. The fact that the FAO felt re-assured was evident yesterday when Annan's message was disseminated: 'The message - u n d e r l i n e d FAO with great joy - will be conveyed to the Presidential Palace and to the Government'."
(Editorial: "The cards on the table and the Government's course")
"Annan's statement is acknowledged for its clarity: A strong wind that has swept away all
ambiguities over the FAO Summit. The target is the high-rank official Staffan de Mistura, with his unorthodox opinions (appreciated by the Italian Government) regarding a need for a postponement of the Summit. But there is much more, the UN Secretary-General recalls that the UN and the FAO are the same thing: the latter is a direct emanation of the UN headquarters. There is no question about the fact that the FAO Summit is a UN conference." ... "Therefore, taking distance from the FAO Conference means to challenge the UN, or rather undermine the almost 200 FAO member countries, which are the truly masters of the Organization. In order to ensure that there is no misunderstanding, Annan concludes his strong statement in an unequivocal way: 'The Secretary- General supports the convening of the Conference and has confirmed his participation", meaning that he is ready to come to Rome." ... "Staffan de Mistura spoke in his personal capacity and was wrong to do it. Next will be what was originally foreseen. The Government's effort to get the UN support for the Summit's postponement (supported by influential life Senator G i u l i o Andreotti and de Mistura) of the Summit has failed. However, if so desired, the Italian Government could ask anyway for the cancellation of the Summit." ... "Premier Berlusconi has always and only spoken about problems of public order. He has never questioned the validity of the FAO programmes, nor the legitimacy of the UN."
(Separate article on the 'Government's embarrassing situation')
"Minister for the Implementation of the Government's programme, Giuseppe Pisanu: 'The UN Secretary-General is such a respectable interlocutor and, therefore, should be listened to with great attention and respect." ... "Nobody denies the fact that Annan's words has caused difficulties to the Italian Government."
(Interview with life Senator Giulio Andreotti)
"Senator Andreotti said he was "surprised and truly astonished" over the 'rigid position' of the UN Secretary-General... "Kofi Annan has just been re-elected and thus he had no reason for taking such a rigid position over such a delicate issue. Such a gesture was not necessary to strengthen his re-election. There is only one explanation: "He wanted to make a question of p r i n c i p l e out of the FAO Summit." ... I refuse to believe that Annan is not concerned about the problems linked to the convening of the Summit in Rome. Should the Summit be useful so as to alleviate the world hunger problem, I could understand, but the Summit will serve no purpose." ... "The fight against hunger in the world instead of making concrete progress is loosing momentum. This is why the only way to address this drama is to commit single countries to increase their voluntary contributions." ...
"Should the UN Secretary-General insist on the convening of the FAO Summit in November, he can always hold it in the UN headquarters."
La Repubblica
After making reference and quoting the UN Secretary-GeneeraFs statement and recalling de Mistura's interview with 'II Corriere della Sera,' the Rome daily wrote: "Today, the Council of Ministers will discuss the possible postponement of the FAO Summit. The Government could request the FAO Director-General to transfer the Food Summit to another country or to postpone it for some time. However, several requests addressed to Premier Berlusconi so as to respect Italy's original commitment are arriving. In addition to Annan, the majority of the 80 countries that have responded to an inquiry undertaken by the Foreign Ministry have expressed its support to the Rome venue. Life Senator Giulio Andreotti supports de Mistura's point of view: 'He has made a fail- observation'."
A separate article informed of yesterday's dinner on the eve of the official meeting of the Council of Ministers, which gathered together Premier Berlusconi and some 10 ministers and under-
secretaries. "On the table is the umpteenth recognition of the crucial situation which is surrounding the question of the FAO Summit: a predicament that has all the characteristics of an international case. Nobody of Premier Berlusconi's team foresaw such a development. A proof of this was the way in which his interlocutors made reference to de Mistura's support for the postponement of the Summit. That was music to Berlusconi's ears which was abruptly interrupted by the firmness with which the UN Secretary-General clarified that his Representative de Mistura spoke in his personal capacity and that the UN was close to Jacques Diouf, who had already conveyed an i n v i t a t i o n to Berlusconi for the FAO Summit." No reaction by the Foreign Ministry but a comment from Minister Ruggiero: 'The UN reaction was just logical'." "Minister Carlo Giovanardi confided his collaborators to be ready to press for a decision: 'After Annan's statement, we cannot any longer delay a decision.'." ... "What Premier Berlusconi augurs is that Italians understand that until the end he opposed to the Rome Summit, and will only bend to the force of a decision taken by others, as was the case in Genoa. This is why it is foreseen that also today the Council of Ministers could result in a non-decision.
II Manifesto (left-wing daily)
"The UN Secretary-General warns the Italian Government and Premier Belusconi. Kofi Annan disavows his Personal Representative de Mistura and stops Premier Berlusconi." ... "It means that, should the Italian Government call for a postponement or for a transfer elsewhere, it w i l l have to do it with no international support -- in an open clash with the UN and the FAO, and the great majority of the 80 countries consulted by the Foreign Ministry. The last word should come from the FAO Director-General, who made it known yesterday that he was awaiting the outcome of today's meeting of the Council of Ministers, prior to urgently convening a press conference to respond to eventual requests. During recent weeks, Diouf and the FAO have avoided taking an open stance, but their rejection to a postponement or a transfer has been evident." ... "But, the thing that convinced Premier Berlusconi that the FAO and the UN would have accepted positively the subterfuge, was the declarations made by de Mistura, disavowed now by Annan."... "Following Pisanu's statement (see above) acknowledging that after the 'red light' of the UN, everything has become more difficult, it is not for sure that today the Government will be able to find a solution to the dilemma of the FAO Summit: It could ask for another week for re-thinking." ... "The President of the Lazio Region Storace and the entire National Alliance party (AN) (of the Government coalition) are in a delicate position: Contrary to their previous position supporting a transfer of the Summit elsewhere because of a fear to offer an image of a weak Government, they now support its postponement, an option that would favour an agreement within the entire government coalition.
However, after Annan's 'no', it is not for sure that this option could be reached. To aggravate Berlusconi's quite difficult life, was the news that the opposition was preparing an unprecedented clamorous public initiative should a postponement be considered."
II Giornale (Berlusconi's newspaper)
Within the context of an article focussing on Interior Minister Scajola's statement on ;i decision to maintain the public order forces as they were at present, the daily wrote: "Minister Scajola made understood that the urgent problem that required immediate attention concerned the forthcoming international summits, above all after an authoritative call made by Kofi Annan to reconfirm that the FAO Summit should be held in Rome, and an announcement made by the opposition of a
parliamentary initiative should the Government decide not to confirm the convening of the Summit in Rome." ... "Following yesterday's 4 hour dinner at Berlusconi's residence that gathered several
Government leaders. Minister Pisanu affirmed that 'no decision had been taken on the FAO Summit' and that nothing had been said about Kofi Annan's decision."
La Stampa
"Easy diplomacy to be read between the lines and also 'unusual' moves (this is how the statement of Kofi Annan is seen at the Foreign Ministry) would be part of a scenario built on a double axis:
Annan supports Diouf for the FAO Summit in Rome, while de Mistura is ready to give a hand to President Berlusconi."
" 'Staffan de Mistura does not want to make comments,' is the reply at his office in Beyrouth.
The Diplomat, who with his proposal to postpone the Summit, has given origin to Koll Annan's decisive reply, from 7 December 2000 is the Personal Representative of the UN Secretary-General for southern Lebanon. ..."
L'Unita
"From his attitude out from the beginning, Berlusconi, in case of problems of p u b l i c disorder, could claim that he always opposed to the Summit in Rome and was obliged to change his mind from pressure coming from outside and therefore he could not be held responsible. Not being able to put the blame on the opposition, Kofi Annan together with those supporting the S u m m i t in Rome would be blamed for it."
