This year the Italian Embassy celebrated Italy's national day a little differently. After welcoming guests at the Casino Maltese Ambassador De Vito and his wife, Hadar Halevy proceeded to the ballroom which was full up. There we enjoyed an excellent concert by the Orchestra da Camera Italiana a Malta. This special music ensemble was founded in 2015 for the Christmas concert organized by the Italian Cultural Institute in Malta. All musicians are members of the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra and contribute to further enhancing the already strong cultural bonds between Italy and Malta through the universal language of music.
The ensemble is mainly formed of Italian musicians and includes performers from Hungary and Poland. Some of you may remember listening to this orchestra da camera playng at the Bir Miftuh International Music Festival and the Victoria International Arts Festival of Gozo. These young musicians have also played, either as soloists or together with several prestigious orchestras in a number of European countries.
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The programme was most pleasant with music by Mozart (the Overture from Le nozze di Figaro); Antonio Salieri's Sinfonia Veneziana; a Divertimento per clarinetto ed ensemble from Verdi's Il Trovatore and the musicians ended with another favourite , Verdi's 'Va pensiero,' that wonderful chorus from Nabucco. Oh yes, I must not forget Charles Camilleri's Court Dance one of the five movements in the ballet suite Knights of Malta and Ennio Morricone's Gabriel's Oboe the main theme he wrote for the 1986 film The Mission.
And we also had Puccini's E lucevan le stelle from Tosca.
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After this most pleasant start to an enjoyable evening H.E. the Ambassador to Italy gave his speech (in perfect English) and welcomed guests to celebrate the National Day of Italy, the 71st anniversary of the Italian Republic born after the Second World War.
H.E. then spoke of Italy's foreign policy, in a particularly intense year. 'First of all, as an elected member of the U.N. Security Council, we launched a new initiative setting up a Mediterranean network of leading women involved in mediation, conflict prevention and peaceful resolution of disputes.' He said that Italy strongly supports the establishment of such a network and looks forward to the participation also of qualified Maltese representatives to provide their valuable contribution in favour of peace, tolerance and the prevention of violent extremism in the Mediterranean region.
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H.E. then pointed out that as President of the G7 group of industrialized countries, Italy recently hosted the G7 in nearby Taormina. There, leaders strongly reaffirmed their commitment to fight terrorism and Italy insisted on strengthening international collaboration in addressing mass migration. 'More should be done among concerned States and governments to respect human dignity of asylum seekers and reduce irregular migration in Central Mediterranean,' Signor De Vito said.
Another priority is the European Union. He emphasized that 'Italy remains strongly committed to the European project and its relaunch.'
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The next milestone in Italy and Malta's bilateral relations will be the State visit to Malta of the President of Italy who will be coming in September.
The ambassador then said that his experience in Malta has been greatly rewarding and filled with so many emotions.
Sig. De Vito said how pleased the embassy was to collaborate with Maltese institutions and organizations such as The President's Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society. 'I am really grateful when we came up with the proposal of commemorating the Holocuast Memorial day in Malta.' He then mentioned a number of initiatives where the embassy partnered with the President's Foundation. He also mentioned the collaboration between the President's Foundation and the Italian Cultural Institute in organizing charity concerts and inviting Italian artists and musicians to perform. There were also the scholarships offered to Maltese students.
At this stage His Excellency paid homage to the Italian Military Forces 'for their humanitarian commitment in rescuing thousands of persons in Central Mediterranean.'
Before saying a few words to his compatriots in Italian Sig. De Vito thanked the staff of the Italian embassy and the Italian Cultural Institute for the help they have given during his stay in Malta.
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In her speech Madame President said that diplomatic relations between Malta and Italy have flourished since they were first established in 1964 however, the special bond dates back across the centuries. 'This closeness is manifest even in the fact that Italians constitute the largest group of E.U. nationals, who are living and working in the Maltese Islands. Moreover, marriages between Maltese and Italian citizens further strengthen this closeness, through familial ties.' Mrs Coleiro Preca pointed out that during Malta's ongoing Presidency of the Council of the E.U. two of the main priority areas for Malta, as well as for Italy, have been migration and the Mediterranean. 'Sharing the same sea, the same region, and such close geographical and cultural proximity, naturally leds us to have similar policy perspectives on these important issues.' This was also one of the issues of discussion, when the President met with Presidente Mattarella while he was in Malta in 2015. Our President had the opportunity to meet with the Italian president again during her visit to Rome in January this year. 'I anticipate pursuing our discussions when President Mattarella joins us, for a state visit, and preceeding the participation in the Arraiolos Meeting in September,' she told her audience.
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Italy is also Malta's largest trading partner by a large margin and a healthy increase in exports was also registered last year. 'Our business collaboration is evidenced by over 3,300 firms with Italian shareholding interests in Malta. This is by far the largest number of shareholders in Malta, from any country,'.
When it comes to tourism Madame President said that Malta has witnessed a steady growth in the number of visitors from Italy. Italians are also the largest group of citizens who are choosing Malta as their preferred destination, and make up one fourth of all students who register to learn English in Malta.
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Mrs Coleiro Preca then spoke of the collaboration between the two countries in the cultural field and said she is confident that Valletta's position as European Capital of Culture in 2018 will lead towards more enriching opportunites for cultural cooperation between the two countries.
Her Excellency then said a few words in Italian after which she proposed a toast 'a nome della stessa amicizia tra Malta e l'Italia'.
The President, the ambassador and his wife, Hader, lead the guests to the room next door where there was plenty of food and drink to enjoy and good company for lively conversation.
I have heard through the grapevine that the De Vitos will be leaving Malta at the end of the year. They have become so much part of the social fabric many of us will be sorry to see them go.
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