From January 24 to 25, 2023, the New Europe Center conducted an advocacy visit to Italy. The visit aimed to strengthen Rome’s support in countering Russian aggression and present Ukraine’s views on developing Italian-Ukrainian bilateral relations.

The Ukrainian delegation included D director of the New Europe Center (NEC, Ukraine) Alyona Getmanchuk and Senior Research Fellow Leo Litra, Vice President and Director of the Berlin office of the German Marshall Fund of the U.S. (GMF, Germany) Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff, Head of Regional Security and Conflict Studies, Democratic Initiatives Foundation (Ukraine), Research Fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science (UK) Maria Zolkina, Adviser of the Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Deputy Head of the Office for European and Euro-Atlantic integration (Ukraine) Daria Gaidai, representative of the AntiCorruption Action Center (AntAC, Ukraine) Valeriia Radchenko.

The first day of the visit:

Experts took part in a closed-door round table in the Senate, moderated by the head of the Senate Commission on European Affairs and ex-Minister of Foreign Affairs, Giulio Terzi.

The delegation also spoke at a large public event at the leading Italian think-tank Istituto Affari Internazionali, co-organized by the New Europe Center in partnership with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine.

The second day of the visit:

The experts met with Francesco Talo, the diplomatic adviser of the Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni.

“Professionally and at the same time very friendly discussed what could be Italy’s contribution to the victory of Ukraine in this decisive period of the war, as well as in the process of Ukraine’s accession to the EU. We are waiting for the visit of the Prime Minister of Italy to Ukraine very soon,” – Alyona Getmanchuk commented.

In the end, the delegation met and talked with a number of MPs. Mainly, with representatives of the ruling party “Brothers of Italy”. They also met with parliamentarians from other political forces, including the Five Star Movement and Berlusconi’s party

“Just these days, the Italian parliament voted for the Italian government to have the opportunity to provide military support to Ukraine throughout 2023. Five Star Movement did not hear us, they voted against this decision, but this only motivates us to work further and more convincingly convey why military aid for Ukraine is today the biggest contribution to peace, which is talked about so much in Italy, but which in reality no one wants more than Ukrainians,” – the Director of the New Europe Center said.

Experts also met with opposition political forces. In particular, they spoke with Lia Quartapelle from the Democratic Party.

“In general, the impression is that the Italian government – despite its diversity – currently understands the importance of supporting Ukraine more than Italian society. That is why some more interviews with the Italian media are ahead,” – Alyona Getmanchuk shared her impressions of the meeting.

The advocacy visit to Italy was organized with the support of the International Renaissance Foundation. The opinions expressed by the participants during the visit do not necessarily coincide with the position of the International Renaissance Foundation.