Rome

Bilateral relations between Estonia and Italy

History of Diplomatic Relations

Italy recognised the Republic of Estonia on 26 January 1921. The first Italian Ambassador to Estonia was Agostino Depretis, who presented his credentials in February 1921. Before World War II, Italy’s Institute of Culture was active in Estonia. Historian Indro Montanelli, a grand figure in the Italian press, headed it.

In June 1921, Estonia’s first diplomatic representative in Italy, Karl Robert Pusta, residing in Paris, presented his credentials. The first Estonian Ambassador to reside in Rome was Karl Tofer (1927-1931). In addition to the legation in Rome, Estonia had Honorary Consulates in Genoa, Milan, Naples, Palermo and Trieste.

Italy re-recognised Estonia on 27 August 1991. Diplomatic relations between Estonia and Italy were restored on 31 August 1991. Italy’s first Ambassador to the restored Republic of Estonia was Carlo Siano (1991-1996). The other representatives of Italy in Estonia have been ambassadors Roberto Martini (1996-1999), Luchino Cortese (1999-2002), Ruggero Vozzi (2002-2005), Fabrizio Piaggesi (2005-2009), Rosa Maria Chicco Ferraro (2009-2012), Marco Clemente (2012-2016) and Filippo Formica (2016-2019). The current Italian ambassador Daniele Rampazzo presented his credentials to President Kersti Kaljulaid on 4 December 2019.

Estonia’s Embassy in Rome resumed work in September 1996, led by Chargé d’Affaires a.i. Ruth Lausma. In September 1998, Estonia’s first ambassador since the restoration of the Republic Jaak Jõerüüt presented his credentials. After that Estonia was represented from 2002-2006 by Jüri Seilenthal, from 2006-2010 by Andres Tomasberg, from 2010-2014 by Merike Kokajev and from 2014-2020 by Celia Kuningas-Saagpakk. The current ambassador Paul Teesalu presented his credentials to President Sergio Mattarella on 24 September 2020.

Estonia is also represented in Italy by six honorary consuls: Luigi Cecchini in Florence, Eugenio Kielland in Genoa, Antonello Miranda in Palermo, Piero Bettini in Venice, Giuseppe Iazeolla in Bari and Piergiorgio Valente in Milan.

In 1993, the first Italian-Estonian parliamentary group was established in Riigikogu, the Parliament of Estonia.

Defence Co-operation

Italy is covered by defence attaché lieutenant captain Erkki Silm, who resides in Berlin. The Italian defence attaché in Estonia is colonel Raffaele Vladimir Forgione, who resides in Warsaw.

Italy participated in the NATO Baltic air policing mission for the first time from January to April 2015 from Šiauliai, Lithuania. Italy participated from Ämari Air Base in Estonia for the first time from January-April 2018 and again from May-December 2021.  Italy is one of the founding members of the NATO Cyber Defence Centre and contributes to the centre’s work with one training and doctrine expert and one legal expert.

Contacts with Italy’s defence structures began in 1995. A defence co-operation agreement was signed in 1998 and became effective on February 2001. Co-operation related to peacekeeping has been very good, as Estonian peacekeepers served together with Italian carabinieri from November 1999 to December 2006 within the NATO KFOR Multinational Support Unit in Kosovo.

Many reciprocal visits have taken place. In January 2014, while on a visit to Italy, the Undersecretary for Defence Investments Ingvar Pärnamäe signed a memorandum of understanding concerning cooperation with his Italian colleague General Enzo Stefanini, which will make it easier for Estonia to order from the Italian defence industry.In June 2013 the Italian Director National for Armaments of the Ministry of Defence Gen. Claudio De Bertolis visited Estonia. In May 2011 Undersecretary for Defence Planning of the Ministry of Defence Lauri Tumm was in Rome and Chief of Staff of the Italian Army Lieutenant General Giuseppe Valotto was in Estonia. In June 2011 four cadets from the Higher Military Academy participated in the military parade dedicated to the 105th anniversary of the Republic of Italy.

In June 2011 45 Italian officers were also in Estonia for a study visit, during which they visited the Riigikogu, the International Centre for Defence Studies, the Ministry of Defence, and the Cyber Defence Centre.

In March of 2010 the Estonian Aviation Museum received a gift from the Italian Air Force – a fighter F-104S ASA Starfighter.

Culture and Education

A joint Estonian-Italian cultural and educational co-operation program was signed for the years 2022-2026 on 30 August 2022. The program includes culture, sports, education, science and other areas of expertise that the two countries have to offer one another. The program was signed by Estonian Minister of Culture Piret Hartman and Italian Ambassador to Estonia Daniele Rampazzo.

The first agreement between Estonia and Italy related to culture, education, science and technology was signed in May 1997 and came into force in June 2002. It was a general framework agreement meant to develop and put into practice activities that will help to improve mutually understanding of each other’s cultural heritage while fostering cultural, education, science and technology related co-operation between the two countries. Within the framework of the same agreement, Estonian and Italian representatives signed a four-year co-operation program for the years 2004-2008 to bring Italian scholars, students and cultural figures to Estonia and facilitated the culture, education, science and technology-related co-operation.

In Estonia, Italian philology is taught at Tallinn University, and Italian as a secondary subject at the University of Tartu or at various language schools.

Thanks to the scholarships of the Italian Foreign Ministry and activities of the Italian Embassy in Tallinn, a great number of Estonian students and graduate students have been able to study in Italy.

Cultural events

• Estonia participated in the 59th International Venice Biennale of Art in 2022 with the exhibition “Orchidelirium: An Appetite for Abundance” by Kristina Norman, Bita Razavi and Corina L. Apostol.  The Estonian exhibition was displayed in the historical Rietveld Pavilion of the Netherlands, located in the heart of the Giardini.
• Priit and Olga Pärn were the protagonists of the section dedicated to auteur animation of the 40th edition of the Bergamo Film Meeting film festival from 26 March – 3 April 2022.
• Several Estonian designers participated in the exhibition of the Estonian Association of Designers “Second Chance” during the Venice Design Biennale from 11-27 June 2021.
• Estonia participated in the 17th International Venice Biennale of Architecture in 2021 with the exhibition “Square! positively shrinking”, about urban regeneration tools for shrinking communities.
• On 29 November President Kersti Kaljulaid opened the Konrad Mägi exhibit “Konrad Mägi. The Light of the North” at the Musei Reali in Torino. The exhibition was put together jointly by the Art Museum of Estonia, the Musei Reali and the Konrad Mägi Foundation and it was opened at the same time as the passing of one hundred years since Mägi’s trip to Italy.
• In May 2018 a concert of the works of Arvo Pärt took place in the Basilica of Santa Sabina in Rome. The concert took place in the framework of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Estonia.

Previous Events

• Cultural cooperation between the Italian Association of Estonia and the Italian embassy is constant and fruitful. The leaders of the association, Ülle Toode and Gianni Glinni, were awarded the citizen diplomacy diplomas of the Estonian Foreign Ministry in 2016 upon the suggestion of the embassy.
• The Terre del Nord Nordic Countries Music Festival was held for the 3rd time from Feb 21 to Feb 28, 2016 in Turin. The festival is centered around introducing Nordic music, exhibitions and workshops; Estonian musicians were among the participants.
• In cooperation with the Georgian Embassy to the Holy See, the Estonian-Georgian film “Tangerines” premiered in Rome to an audience of around one hundred. The film reached cinemas in May 2016.
• On May 27 at the 15. International Venice Architecture Biennale the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian joint exhibition, “The Baltic Pavilion”, was opened. The ceremony was attended by the Minister of Culture, Indrek Saar.
• In April 2016 the Milan design week was held, where Estonia was represented by 15 designers with 2 exhibitions, the Estonian Design House with its new collection and the Estonian Association of Designers with their project “Human Cities”.
• The most significant Estonian culture event in the second half of the 2016 was the presenting of the Italian edition of Lennart Meri’s “Silverwhite” in Rome on Sep 22 as par tof the IX Travel Literature Festival.
• 31.01-12.02.2015 exhibition of the golden age of Estonian art, “Nordic Colours”, part of Enn Kunila’s collection, and the introduction of the EXPO pavilion in the Vittoriano museum in Rome
• Bologna book fair 30.03-02.04.2015 –  two Estonian children’s books were selected as the 100 best books published in the world in 2014
• Bologna animation festival Future Film Festival 5.05-10.05.2015 –  Priit and Olga Pärn took part in the 17th animation film festival with their program “Focus on Estonia”.
• As the result of cooperation between the Estonian Association of Designers and the British PR organization Designersblock, many Estonian designers participated in the Milan design week in April 2015.
• In December 2015, the pianist Mihkel Poll played in Rome at the finale of the music festival Nuova Consonanza with the programme “Portrait Estonia”. The finale concert was preceded by a meeting with the composer Toivo Tulev, who taught a composition seminar as part of the festival.
• At the 56th Venice Art Biennale in 2015 Jaanus Samma/Eugenio Viola participated with their project “NSFW. The Story of the Chairman”.
• In February 2014, Anatali Strakhov’s exhibition was opened in Bari and in April Tiina Ojaste’s personal exhibition “Pearls of Estonia” in Rome.
• In June 2014, Arne Maasik’s personal exhibition “Given space” was displayed at the Vittoriano complex in Rome.
• Also in June 2014, Nikolai Kormashov’s exhibition “Setumaa” was open in Matera, Southern Italy, and in the former monastery of San Giovanni Jaan Pärn’s jewellery exhibition “Amber Chamber II” along with Vilve Unt’s clothes sets based on ethnographical studies and decorated with Kär Summatavet’s jewellery were open for visitors.

Economic Relations

In 2016, contacts were established with many professional associations, and communication with regional institutions and business organisations increased. The embassy has, in cooperation with local unions and organisations, arranged events to introduce Estonia. During the past few years, multiple business seminars and trips have taken place to enliven economic relations between the two countries. Estonia’s participation in the Milan EXPO 2015 presented an excellent opportunity to strengthen economic ties.

Trade

For the past years, Italy has been Estonia’s 14th to 15th trading partner and trade with Italy has made up around 1,8% of Estonia’s total trade. Estonian exports to Italy have gradually decreased and currently stand for less than 1% of the country’s total exports. Imports from Italy have grown slightly.

Estonia-Italy trade 2006-2016 (in millions EUR):

In addition, the Italy-Baltic parliamentary friendship group visited Estonia in April 2012 and Riigikogu’s Estonia-Italy friendship group visited Rome in December 2012 to meet with the defence and foreign relations commissions of the lower house of the Italian parliament.