Good evening everyone.

Thank you for this evening, thank you for this welcome and of course thank you to the Consul and the Ambassador.

My thanks also go to the Mayor for being here, I would obviously also like to thank the artists, orchestra and conductor Beatrice Venezzi who will be performing this evening, and above all I wish to thank all of you, because from this stage it is very moving to see you all here this evening.

I could not have completed my first official visit to Argentina and my first visit to Latin America without spending some time with you in this magnificent theatre which, as has been mentioned, is one of the symbols of the bond between Italy and Argentina.

Italy and Argentina are sister nations, sharing a fraternal bond that began even before Italy and Argentina gained their independence. A fraternal bond built on  love, devotion and the sacrifice of those Italians who, despite being far from home, never forgot where they came from and continued to pass that tradition down from generation to generation.

For the millions of people of Italian descent, even for those who perhaps have never been to Italy, Italy therefore continues to be - to use a definition by a hero of the Italian Risorgimento - the homeland of the heart; a home, because home is the place you may leave physically but your heart never does.

That bond forms the basis for what can still today be a very strong relationship between Italy and Argentina, what must be a much stronger relationship between Italy and Argentina. However, before I go any further, I want to say that your bond with your home, with your motherland, has never been a hindrance, right? Because, at the end of the day, identity is never a limit or a burden, but is rather always an added value. That bond did not make you weaker, it made you stronger; it did not isolate you, it gave you the means to better integrate. It was that bond, that identity and that awareness that enabled you to contribute to the growth of this community, as you successfully have done.

Still today, that bond can and must make the difference for both Italy and Argentina because, let’s be honest, you have always done your part but politics has perhaps not always done the same. I am therefore here above all to make up for that absence, to rebuild and strengthen the ties of this relationship. I discussed this at length with President Milei; the relationship between our governments must reflect this bond. 

I am essentially here to tell you one key thing: I don’t know if you have ever felt, how can I put it, like you weren’t being supported enough by Italy, I don’t know whether you may have even thought, although I don’t think so, that you were not being given enough consideration; if that has ever happened, I want to tell you that it won’t happen again. I want to tell you that Italy will be there, because this is important for you but also because it is important for Italy. 

Our Italians, children of Italians around the world, are the most extraordinary diplomatic network we have ever had and we must be able to do for them what they have been able to do for us. So this is a promise I make to you, for today and for the future. 

Long live Italy, long live Argentina, long live our bond.

Thank you and have a nice evening.

[Courtesy translation]