Secretary General, Ambassador Ettore Francesco Sequi, has received the Ambassador of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in Rome, Michelle Pranchère-Tomassini.
This very cordial meeting gave continuity to Italy’s fruitful bilateral dialogue with Luxembourg, an EU and NATO partner capable of playing an important and influential mediation role with regard to the main dossiers at the heart of the European and international agenda.
The focus of the talks was the Ukraine crisis, the outcomes of the recent extraordinary European Council and bilateral relations – all topics with regard to which broad convergence of views and priorities emerged.
With respect to Ukraine, the two Ambassadors renewed their firm and convinced condemnation of Russian aggression against Ukraine, reiterating the importance of coordination between the Euro-Atlantic partners in support of the resilience of Ukraine’s infrastructure and people.
With respect to Europe’s response to the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the reform of the Stability and Growth Pact, Ambassador Sequi and Ambassador Pranchère-Tommassini expressed their conviction of the need to find shared and effective solutions aimed at ensuring competitiveness and the protection of the European single market by combining pragmatism, flexibility and strategic vision.
With respect to migration, the Secretary General and the Ambassador of Luxembourg agreed on the need for joint action at EU level, which could bring the scale of migration flows down to more manageable numbers for Member States through burden sharing and solidarity. In this regard, both reiterated that it remains essential to strengthen the common commitment to the external dimension by relaunching cooperation with the countries of origin and transit of migration flows.
With regard to bilateral relations, the two Ambassadors shared their satisfaction with the excellent state of cooperation in the political, economic, scientific and cultural fields. In particular, the Secretary General was keen to highlight the important contribution that the large community of Italian nationals living in the Grand Duchy has made to the deep-rooted friendship between Italy and Luxembourg.
He then emphasised the opportunities for strengthening the vibrant bilateral economic-scientific partnership arising from the shared priorities assigned by governments and business communities to the themes of technological and digital innovation, space research and energy sustainability.
