(16 March 2016) Rome and Prague strengthen bilateral relations thanks to numerous missions of Italian institutions to the Czech Republic. Soon, the Minister Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Gentiloni will visit the central European country (the last Italian Foreign Minister who paid an official visit to the Czech Republic was Franco Frattini in 2011). However the Minister is not the only Italian representative traveling to Prague, as the Chairman of the Italian Senate Foreign Affairs Committee Pier Ferdinando Casini recently met with his Czech counterpart Frantisek Bublan, and the Secretary of State for European Affairs Tomas Prouza. The talks, which saw the participation of Italian Ambassador Aldo Amati, focused on bilateral relations between Italy and Czech Republic, with particular attention on the issue of migrants, the urgent need to bring peace to the Mediterranean area and the need to start a new era of cooperation with Russia, considered “a privileged partner in the stabilization process”. Chairman Casini said that “the meetings were very positive and the intention is to strengthen relations between the two countries not only in the commercial sense but also in terms of politics – by increasing cooperation between the two parliaments”. Casini – reveals the Embassy in a note – also stressed Prague’s particular stance within the Visegrad Group (Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary – V4), in which it holds the presidency, characterized by moderate positions and “a specific approach that needs to be explored in more detail, and in this context must be understood the visit of Minister Gentiloni”. (Red)
