Bush Meets Italian Leaders at Start of European Trip

ROME — Blending diplomacy and politics, Vice President George Bush conferred with Italian leaders Friday at the start of a nine-day trip intended to improve his presidential chances and at the same time underline allied support for Soviet-American arms reduction.

“There is genuine enthusiasm here for what is taking place,” Bush told reporters after what he called “a very frank and useful” conversation on arms with Prime Minister Giovanni Goria.

Italy, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, has strongly supported an agreement in principle between the United States and the Soviet Union to eliminate intermediate-range nuclear missiles. Final approval would mean, among other things, the withdrawal of 60 U.S. cruise missiles based in Comiso, Sicily, since 1981.

In his talks with Goria, President Francesco Cossiga and other Italian leaders, Bush also touched on developments in the Persian Gulf and the subject of counterterrorism. According to a senior State Department official traveling with the vice president, Bush reassured the Italians that an arms accord would not signal any lessening of U.S. commitment to Europe.

Bush also gave Goria a letter from President Reagan. Its contents were not disclosed, but the State Department official said it echoed Bush’s spoken themes and emphasized a U.S desire to consult fully with its European allies.

Bush said he shares Goria’s preoccupation with the unpredictability of Iran, and he said he praised the 44-year-old Italian prime minister for his government’s “courageous and forthright decision” to help assert the right of free passage in the waters of the Persian Gulf.

Despite leftist opposition, Goria’s coalition government has agreed to establish an Italian presence in the gulf. Three Italian frigates, three minesweepers and two support vessels are en route to the gulf.

If Bush’s formal activities Friday were involved exclusively with statesmanship, their underlying domestic political content was clearly evident. Preparing for the Italian stop in the six-nation tour was the last official chore of a White House advance man. He said that he goes on the Bush-for-President payroll Oct. 1.

En route to the meeting with Goria, reporters were informed of the appointment in Washington of former Bush press secretary Peter Teeley as chief spokesman for the Bush presidential campaign. A camera crew paid for by the Bush campaign will join the vice presidential party in Warsaw today to film scenes that will be used in the campaign that Bush is to undertake formally Oct. 12.

The four-day Poland visit is expected to be the highlight of the tour, which also will include brief stops in West Germany, France, Britain and Belgium.