In the presence of some 2,000 guests, Italy's ambassador to the United States, Mariangela Zappia, hosted the anniversary celebrations of the Italian Republic last June 3 in Washington. After introducing the video message of greetings to her compatriots from Council Vice President and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Antonio Tajani, Ambassador Zappia stressed to the participants the importance of the message of the President of the Republic even more so in the “extraordinary phase of relations between Italy and the United States, which the recent visit to Washington of the President of the Council has further relaunched and which finds in the Joint Declaration of Leaders a clear roadmap for the future”. In remarking how it was her last Republic Day as head of mission in Washington, Mariangela Zappia thanked and greeted her compatriots, reiterating how the Embassy and all Italian consulates in the United States always remain at their side. She then concluded by recalling the strong bond with the United States and how “concluding more than 40 years of career in the service of the State with the post of ambassador of Italy in Washington was the greatest honor of my life”. Guests included U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender, the President's Special Envoy for Russia and Ukraine Keith Kellogg, Special Envoy for Africa Massad Boulos, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, and numerous senators and members of Congress.
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