Photo: Zuzana Bönisch
President Petr Pavel and his wife Eva Pavlova will pay a working visit to the Italian Republic from 27 to 29 November 2023.
President Petr Pavel and his wife Eva Pavlova first visited the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Rome and the Vatican on Tuesday 28 November 2023 in the morning, where they met with the Honorary Consuls of the Czech Republic in the Italian Republic, representatives of the compatriot community and the Embassy staff. The official opening of the visit took place in the Presidential Quirinal Palace with a meeting with the President of the Italian Republic Sergio Mattarella. The Presidents appreciated the excellent relations and economic cooperation. They discussed the enlargement of the Union and stressed the need for economic and political stability in the Balkans. The situation in Ukraine was also discussed.
In the afternoon, President of the Republic Petr Pavel attended a commemorative ceremony at the monument to Victor Emmanuel II, Altare della Patria, and met with Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister of the Italian Republic. There were also common themes such as cooperation in the energy sector, mutual support in the EU, cooperation in the defence industry and science. AI and its regulation was also a topic.
In the evening, Petr Pavel gave a lecture for students during his visit to the NATO Defence College.
The wife of the President of the Republic, Eva Pavlova, then visited the Vojta rehabilitation centre and school as part of a separate programme.
Statement of the President of the Czech Republic Petr Pavel
I think I'll summarise very quickly. Not only is Italy an important partner of ours, both commercially and politically in the European Union and NATO, but it is also a country with which we have found more and more common ground in recent months and years. This applies to all the major problems that we are solving ourselves, but which Europe is also solving, such as security, such as energy security and independence from Russian resources. Like greater economic cooperation, like facing up to the consequences of migration. These are all things that we are tackling together. Moreover, the reason for the visit to Italy is also that our cooperation has a huge potential to grow further. This is not the case with all countries. Here, goodwill is combined with opportunities. We discussed this with both the President and the Prime Minister. It is about expanding cooperation in all those promising areas. Apart from energy and defence, which I mentioned, it is also aviation, space research, it is transport infrastructure, but it is also cooperation in education, science and research. I have to say that I was very pleased with the friendliness on the Italian side and, at the same time, the composition of our entire delegation corresponds to this. We have gone to great lengths to ensure that our industry, our science, our universities are represented at the best possible level. Tomorrow we will have the Czech-Italian Business Forum in Milan. I believe that we will be able to take our cooperation a step further, because all the conditions are in place. And what is positive for the Czech Republic is that we can not only benefit from this cooperation, but that we also have a lot to offer. The Italian side is aware of this and is therefore also looking forward to this cooperation and is preparing for it.
Petr Pavel, President of the Republic, Rome, 28 November 2023
Programme of the working visit of the President of the Republic Petr Pavel and Eva Pavlova to the Italian Republic
27 - 29 November 2023
(change of programme reserved)
A selection from the programme of the visit:
Day 1 - Monday 27 November 2023
in the evening landing at Rome airport
Day 2 of the journey - Tuesday 28 November 2023
in the morning - meeting of the President of the Republic and Mrs. Eva Pavlova with the Honorary Consuls of the Czech Republic in the Italian Republic at the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Rome
meeting with representatives of the compatriot community
12:00 Meeting with the President of the Italian Republic Sergio Mattarella at the Quirinal Palace
meeting of presidents
meetings of national delegations
13.00 Eva Pavlová will separately visit the rehabilitation centre and the Vojta school
14:00 commemoration at the Altare della Patria
(Piazza Venezia)
15:10 Meeting of the President of the Republic with Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister of the Italian Republic
Visit to NATO Defence College
lecture for students
Day 3 of the journey Wednesday 29 November 2023
arrival of the President of the Republic in Milan
12:05 President of the Czech Republic speaks at the Czech-Italian Business Forum
meeting with the President of the Lombard Government
15:15 arrival at the Moto Guzzi factory
museum tour
16:00 visit to the F-35 assembly plant
departure of the President of the Republic and Mrs. Eva Pavlova and her entourage from Milan to Prague
Communication Department of the CPR CR
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