Mission of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hon. Angelino Alfano, in Madrid for bilateral talks.
As part of his tour of the European capitals, that included stops in Paris, London and Berlin and will lastly in Pristina, Minister Alfano today held several meetings in Madrid.
At the Spanish Foreign Ministry, he had a bilateral meeting, followed by a joint press conference, with his Spanish counterpart, Alfonso Dastis Quecedo.
The talks focused on the excellent state of the bilateral relations between Italy and Spain and the ample convergence on European issues and the most important international dossiers, to be relaunched on the occasion of an Italian-Spanish intergovernmental summit, that will follow the last one held in 2014, and that, according to Alfano:”we want it to be very concrete, in order to act together first of all in the European Union and within the UN.”
“The Summit will focus on bilateral economic and commercial relations. In this light a proposal to organize an economic entrepreneurial forum will be submitted, with a view to helping Spanish entrepreneurs investing in Italy and Italian businessmen investing in Spain meet their wishes and expectations.”
This was a request addressed to the Minister also by a delegation of Italian entrepreneurs operating in Spain during a meeting held at the Embassy. On that occasion the Minister felt “their passion for the work they carry out in Spain and their sincere desire to honor their Italian roots.”
This morning Minister Alfano met the Spanish Minister of Education, Culture and Sports, Íñigo Méndez de Vigo, at the Ministry.
The talks focused, among several themes, on future cultural cooperation initiatives with Spain – especially promoted by Ambassador Stefano Sattannino – , in line with the integrated promotion strategy launched by Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation through the initiative dubbed “Vivere all’italiana.”