(ANSA) – ROMA, 29 LUG – The Ambassador of Italy in Sofia, Marcello Apicella, was received today in a working meeting by the Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Ivan Kondov, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria from August 2024 to January 2025 and from May to June 2023.
In making state of the excellent bilateral relations, witnessed by the fruitful meeting between the Prime Minister, Hon. Giorgia Meloni, and the Bulgarian Prime Minister, Rosen Zhelyazkov, on May 22 at Palazzo Chigi, and the visit to Bulgaria made by the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, in April 2024, Ambassador Apicella and Secretary General Kondov reviewed the main areas of cooperation between the two countries – in the military, infrastructure and trade spheres – and those susceptible to further deepening. In the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding on Enhanced Consultations and Cooperation between the Farnesina and the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs of June 8, 2009, Ambassador Apicella formalized an invitation for a meeting between Farnesina Secretary General Amb. Riccardo Guariglia and Secretary General Kondov to be scheduled after the summer break. The meeting will allow the definition of priority areas of interest on which to work for the revival of the political dialogue initiated by the bilateral last May 22.
Representing his satisfaction with the growing interest of the Bulgarian citizenry in Italian culture and language, Ambassador Apicella expressed his hope for a further strengthening of cultural relations, to be achieved through the updating of the current Cultural Executive Protocol and the search for a new and more prestigious venue for the Italian Cultural Institute in Sofia, currently housed at the Embassy.
The colloquium, characterized by an atmosphere of great cordiality, then focused on the analysis of regional balances and the impact that the recent geopolitical and financial turmoil may have on a region, the Balkans and the Black Sea, of great strategic value, to whose stability and security Italy contributes through the command of the NATO Multinational Battlegroup stationed in Novo Selo.
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Last modified: July 30, 2025