Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias to visit Italy (Venice) and San Marino (16.01.2023)

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikos Dendias, will travel tomorrow, Monday, January 16, 2023, to Italy, and more particularly to Venice, and then to San Marino for a bilateral visit.

During his visit to Venice, the Minister will visit the Hellenic Institute of Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Studies in Venice.

The Hellenic Institute of Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Studies in Venice is a Legal Entity of Public Law (LEPL), which is under the general supervision of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while its educational and cultural activities fall under the supervision of the Ministry of Education, and Religious Affairs.

It is one of the five Greek institutions with the largest collections of incunabula and manuscripts (excluding Mount Athos and the National Library) and the only scientific institution of Greece abroad.

Afterwards, the Minister of Foreign Affairs will have a meeting with His Eminence Metropolitan Polycarp of Italy and Exarch of Southern Europe.

The Minister’s visit to Venice will conclude with a meeting with the President and members of the Greek Orthodox Community of Venice.

The Greek Orthodox Community of Venice is the oldest community of the Greek diaspora in the Western world and is a historically significant Greek community, maintaining a continuous presence and activity for the past five centuries.

Afterwards, the Minister of Foreign Affairs will make a bilateral visit to San Marino, where he will hold meetings with senior officials. This is the first visit of a Greek Foreign Minister to San Marino.

The Minister will have a one-on-one meeting with his counterpart, Luca Beccari, followed by expanded talks.

Joint statements to the press are expected to take place at approximately 16:30 (EET).

Concluding his visit to San Marino, the Minister will be received by the two Captains Regent (Heads of State) of San Marino, Maria Luisa Berti, and Manuel Ciavatta. The two Captains regent and the two Foreign Ministers will deliver speeches at the official Government building.

The above-mentioned talks in San Marino will focus on further strengthening bilateral relations in all areas, following the Memorandum of Understanding on Political Consultations signed by the two Foreign Ministers in December 2021 (on the margins of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Stockholm), on cooperation within the framework of International Organizations, the EU-San Marino relations, as well as on regional and international developments.