VZCZCXYZ0007
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHUNV #0159/01 0991517
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 091517Z APR 09
FM USMISSION UNVIE VIENNA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9291
INFO RUEHZV/GENEVA GROUP COLLECTIVE
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 0439
RUEHFR/USMISSION UNESCO PARIS
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0876
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1583 C O N F I D E N T I A L UNVIE VIENNA 000159 
 
SIPDIS 
 
ROME PASS FAO 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/09/2019 
TAGS:          
SUBJECT: UN VIENNA CHIEF SEEKS EXTENSION OF TERM? 
 
REF: UNVIE 0072 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR GREGORY SCHULTE, FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D). 
 
 1.  (C)   Antonio Costa, Executive Director of the UN Office 
on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and Director General of UNOV, may 
seek to extend his current and second term, which expires in 
May 2010, to December 31, 2011, to coincide with the term of 
UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon.  Given USG advocacy and 
Geneva Group policy on limiting UN appointments to two terms, 
as stipulated in the 1997 UNGA resolution on management 
reform, Washington should quietly discourage Costa from 
extending, and seek alternative candidates for the position 
when Costa's current contract expires. 
 
 2.  (C)  When asked, Bo Mathiasen (protect), Costa's chief of 
staff, told Counselor on March 25 that he had heard such 
rumors.  However, he professed neither knowledge of Costa's 
intentions nor the desire to be informed of such.  According 
to Mathiasen,  SYG Ban had said that no nation could expect 
ownership of a UN post.  As a result, Mathiasen noted, the 
top job at UN's Department of Political Affairs (DPA), 
previously always occupied by a UK national, is now occupied 
by a U.S. citizen.  Similar reshuffling of nationalities had 
occurred in other UN Departments: in conference management 
services (from China to Egypt), in DPKO (from France to 
jointly Canada and France), and in the Department of 
Management (from U.S. to Mexico to Germany).  Mathiasen added 
that the Director General in Geneva, which has always been a 
Russian, would also see his term expire in 2010. 
 
 3.  (SBU)  Italians have encumbered the double-hatted Vienna 
post (UNOV and UNODC) since the late 1980s, a trend that 
probably originated with a $30 million contribution to the 
then anti-crime entity in Vienna.  (Note: Costa merged 
Vienna's drug and crime bodies to form the UNODC in 2002. 
End Note.)  However, Italian contributions have declined 
since those days, and the current financial crisis at UNODC 
stemmed partly from the drop in Italian contributions to the 
General Purpose Fund (Reftel). 
 
 4.  (SBU)  According to the Italian DCM here, Costa harbors 
"personal ambition" to extend to 2011, when he will reach 
UN's mandatory retirement age.  The Italian DCM told us that 
if Costa pursues an extension, the Italian government will 
support him. 
 
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COMMENT 
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 5. (C) In May 2010, Costa will have completed two terms, or 
eight years, in his current post.  Costa and UNODC have been 
excellent partners of the USG.  Costa's positions on fighting 
drugs and crime align with ours to a large extent.  UNODC 
monitors poppy cultivation in Afghanistan, work which no 
government nor other UN body has been able to perform.  He 
has also proven himself visionary on the Afghan drug problem, 
by advocating greater ISAF involvement in drug interdiction 
and more agricultural assistance to farmers.   However, his 
penchant for publicity and the grandiose have at times caused 
him to neglect the importance of close consultation with 
member states.  Many UNODC staff have been severely 
frustrated with his leadership and management, due in part to 
his heavy travel. Member states have also been frustrated by 
his tendency to surprise them with announcements of new or 
questionable policy ideas at press conferences and other 
public fora.  For example, he had to drop his surprise 
UN.ARMS initiative on firearms because of member state 
opposition.  And, almost two months after we first heard of 
UNODC's financial crisis (Reftel), he has yet to make a 
decision on how to re-organize UNODC to meet the crisis. 
 
 6.  (C)  In any case, the USG promotes Geneva Group policy of 
term limits for UN posts, as provided in the 1997 UNGA 
resolution (A/RES/51/241).  The resolution stipulates in its 
para 68 that the four-year term of executive heads of 
programs, funds and other United Nations bodies can be 
"renewable once."  Costa, as head of a UN body, has already 
had his term renewed once.  Furthermore, it may also be time 
for a non-Italian to assume that position, since Italians 
have encumbered it for more than 20 years.  What is important 
now is for the USG to garner support within the Geneva Group 
to quietly discourage Costa from seeking a further extension, 
and to start looking for candidates to succeed him.  Since 
the Secretary General makes the appointment to the 
double-hatted position (UNODC Executive Director and UNOV 
Director General), we expect all the lobbying to take place 
in New York and in the capital/s.  The Italian DCM in Vienna 
has made it clear that the Italian government, which lobbied 
heavily in New York and Rome for Costa's extension last time, 
will repeat its efforts should Costa seek to extend a second 
time.  END COMMENT. 
SCHULTE