A focus on the “broad prospects for collaboration between Italy and Russia on economic and cultural levels and in a political context in which bilateral relations are marked by a strategic partnership that must also act as a catalyst in the development of increasingly strong relations between the EU and Russia”. This was Minister Giulio Terzi’s summary of his meeting this morning in the Lower House with the Italy-Russia parliamentary commission, co-chaired by President of the Lower House Maurizo Lupi and Vice President of the Russian Duma Alexander Zhukov.
Parliaments’ role crucial in sustaining governments’ actions
“What emerged was an extremely dynamic and positive context in which the role of parliaments was seen as having fundamental importance in sustaining the actions of governments”, Terzi explained, pointing out how “there is no major theme of international prominence concerning Italy and Russia on which it is not possible to develop a terrain for encounter and collaboration in order to face the challenges before us” – with one goal: “the convinced pursuit by both parties of a general EU-Russian partnership. We must consider the final ends of a strategic partnership that must surely be strengthened”.
Support and guarantees for foreign investments
The topics discussed included “religious freedom, the fight against terrorism and security”, while on the economic front the minister observed that there were “many interesting references made by Russia to support and guarantees for foreign investments. For my part, I explained how Italian SMEs were a factor of major importance in the partnerships that we could forge with our Russian counterparts”. Other themes included what could be called the “main attractions” for Italo-Russian economic relations: “investments in the Sochi Olympics and World Cup Soccer championship in 2018, but also the very favourable attitude of Russian investors”, Terzi concluded.
