News

On 8 May, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius received the new Ambassador of Italy to Lithuania Stefano Maria Taliani de Marchio. The Foreign Minister welcomed especially close bilateral relationship with Italy and the signing this February of an agreement on the compensation for Villa Lituania, the inter-war Lithuanian legation building in Rome.

The Ambassador stressed that the ratification of this agreement was given special attention at the Italian Parliament and the consideration of this issue should not be delayed.

Stefano Maria Taliani de Marchio assured the Foreign Minister that Italy supported Lithuania’s Presidency of the EU starting in July and, during that period, would appoint a non-resident Near Eastern affairs diplomat. The new Ambassador also underlined the need for the expansion of bilateral ties.

Linas Linkevičius invited Italy to participate at the highest possible political level in the Eastern Partnership Summit in November in Vilnius.

The Foreign Minister and the Ambassador also highlighted a close partnership in the field of defence and security. Italy will attend NATO’s Steadfast Jazz 2013 exercise, which will be held in the Baltic countries this autumn, and will join the NATO air policing mission in the Baltic States in 2015.

On 2 May, the Ambassador Stefano Maria Taliani de Marchio presented his letters of credence to the President of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė. He replaced the Italian Ambassador Renato Maria Ricci, who has resided in Lithuania since 2009.