On 13 and 14 July, Foreign Minister Eva-Maria Liimets was on a two-day visit to Rome and the Vatican, where she met with the Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, President of the Italian Senate Maria Elisabetta Casellati, Secretary for Relations with States of the Holy See Paul Richard Gallagher and Albrecht von Boeselager, the Grand Chancellor of the Order of Malta. The foreign minister also opened the new building of the Estonian Embassy in Rome.
“We were planning and looking forward to this visit for a long time – this year, we are celebrating the centenary of diplomatic relations between Estonia and Italy,” Minister Liimets explained. “The relations of Estonia and Italy are close in many areas, ranging from security and defence cooperation to cultural cooperation and economic relations, and there is also interest in digital and cyber cooperation. We are grateful to Italy for their contribution in the Baltic Air Policing mission in Ämari. Italian fighters are currently patrolling Estonia’s skies. Estonia is participating in the Jo Themis joint operation of FRONTEX in Italy as part of migration and police cooperation.”
The meeting with Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio and the President of the Italian Senate Maria Elisabetta Casellati covered bilateral relations, current affairs of the European Union and NATO, transatlantic relations, developments concerning Russia and Belarus, as well as the Southern Neighbourhood and migration. “I affirmed Estonia considered security indivisible and we think it is crucial for allies to count on each other’s support,” the minister said. “I touched on the concerning developments on the Lithuanian-Belarusian border that also need the attention of the European Union as a whole.”
Minister Liimets visited the Vatican, where she met with Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States. “This October, Estonia and the Vatican are celebrating the centenary of diplomatic relations. I am glad to note that Secretary Gallagher was well versed in life in Estonia. We exchanged views on current affairs, and I affirmed Estonia’s ambition to actively contribute to global peace and security as an elected member of the UN Security Council.”
The meeting with Albrecht von Boeselager, the Grand Chancellor of the Order of Malta, covered cooperation possibilities for Estonia and the Order of Malta in the field of humanitarian aid and development cooperation, with a focus on digital cooperation. Estonia and the Order of Malta established diplomatic relations in 2020.
Photos of the meeting with the foreign minister of Italy
Photos of the opening of the new embassy building in Rome
Photos of the meeting with the President of the Italian Senate Maria Elisabetta Casellati
Photos of the meeting with the Grand Chancellor of the Order of Malta
Additional information:
Kristina Ots
Media Adviser
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia
Communication Department
[email protected]