The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Angelino Alfano, has been invited by the Unione Italiana, the organization representing the Italian minorities in Croatia and Slovenia, for a mission to Istria on Wednesday 12 April and Thursday 13 April.
Before reaching Umago, Minister Alfano will arrive in Udine on Wednesday at 4:15 p.m. to participate in the event “Farnesina meets enterprises”, taking place at the Chamber of Commerce in Piazza Venerio.
The minister maintains that “foreign policy represents a strategic tool to support enterprises in their growth and internationalisation process. Economic diplomacy, which has a concrete impact on the activity of Italian enterprises abroad, is one of the priorities of my mandate.”
These are the words with which the Minister will address entrepreneurs from Friuli today in Udine.
Following this event, the Minister will reach Umago in the evening, accompanied by Health Minister Beatrice Lorenzin, to meet numerous representatives of the Italian community. Among these, the Foreign Minister will meet the President of the Unione Italiana, Hon. Furio Radin, and the President of the Executive Council of the Union, Maurizio Tremul.
In the morning on Thursday 13 April, Minister Alfano will head to the city of Pula. It is the Istrian city where he will visit the first Croatian school with an Italian language curriculum, meeting both students and faculty members. The “Dante Alighieri” school was inaugurated by President Ciampi and President Mesic in 2001, and supported by the Italian government in compliance with Law 73/2001.
Minister Alfano will then meet Croatian dignitaries for institutional talks at Pula’s Town Hall. Ministers Alfano and Lorenzin will be received by the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Davor Ivo Stier, the Minister of Health, Milan Kujundzic, the Mayor of Pula, Boris Miletic, and the Governor of the Istria County, Valter Flego. Subsequently, Minister Alfano will hold talks with his colleague Minister Stier, while Minister Lorenzin will meet with her colleague, Minister Kujundzic.
At the end of the talks, Minister Alfano, together with Minister Lorenzin and dignitaries of the Croatian Government, will pay homage to Dr. Geppino Micheletti’s memorial site. Dr. Micheletti was a physician from Trieste who distinguished himself for his courage and spirit of sacrifice providing assistance during the Vergarolla massacre in 1946. With a highly symbolic gesture, Ministers Alfano, Lorenzin, Stier and Kujundzic will together place a wreath of flowers under the monument.