Minister of Foreign Affairs visits Italy and San Marino

 

 

Receives Order of Merit from his San Marino counterpart

 

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikos Dendias, travelled to Italy on January 16th, and more particularly to Venice, and then to San Marino for a bilateral visit. It was the first visit of a Greek Foreign Minister to San Marino.

During his visit, the Greek Foreign Affairs Minister was decorated Cavaliere di Gran Croce dell’Ordine Equestre di Sant’Agata by his counterpart of San Marino, Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Economic Cooperation and Telecommunications, Luca Beccari.

San Marino has committed to voting in favour of Greece’s bid to be elected a Member of the United Nations Security Council in the period 2025-2026, Minister Dendias noted after his meetings there, and he also mentioned that San Marino presented a notice to him to that effect.

Referring to the significance of his visit to San Marino, Minister Dendias said that “we had the opportunity to exchange views on a number of issues, either in political consultations, for which I have signed the relevant memorandum, or on the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” he said, underlining that San Marino has imposed the same set of sanctions on Russia as the European Union. At San Marino, the Greek head of diplomacy was also received by the two Captains Regent (Heads of State) of San Marino, Maria Luisa Berti and Manuel Ciavatta.

Talks in San Marino focused on further strengthening bilateral relations in all areas, following the Memorandum of Understanding on Political Consultations signed by the two Foreign Ministers in December 2021 (on the margins of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Stockholm), on cooperation within the framework of international organisations, EU-San Marino relations, as well as on regional and international developments, the Greek Foreign Affairs Ministry had said in an announcement.

Earlier in Venice, Minister Dendias visited the Hellenic Institute of Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Studies – a Legal Entity of Public Law (LEPL), under the general supervision of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is one of the five Greek institutions with the largest collections of incunabula and manuscripts (excluding Mount Athos and the National Library) and the only scientific institution of Greece abroad.

The Foreign Minister was also present for the institute’s annual Vasilopita cutting ceremony. After the cutting of the vasilopita, which was attended by honorable guests, staff and fellows of the Hellenic Institute, the Minister visited the Church of San Giorgio dei Greci, the Museum of Icons, unique for the variety of Byzantine and post-Byzantine artifacts in Venice and the prominent Sala del Capitolo.

He also met with Metropolitan Polycarp of Italy and Exarch of Southern Europe. The Greek Orthodox Community of Venice is the oldest community of the Greek diaspora in the western world and is a historically significant Greek community, maintaining a continuous presence and activity for the past five centuries.