To His Excellency Mr. Sergio Mattarella, President of the Italian Republic

Dear Mr. President,

On the occasion of the national holiday of your country – Republic Day, I am pleased to convey my sincerest congratulations and best wishes to you and your friendly people, on behalf of myself and the people of Azerbaijan.

The Azerbaijan-Italy strategic partnership is gratifying. Our relations in the political, trade-economic, energy, defense, humanitarian and other spheres are accompanied by our multifaceted joint activities. Our successful cooperation in the energy sector, which is one of the priority areas of our partnership, plays an important role in ensuring Europe's energy security.

I would like to emphasize the high level of mutually beneficial cooperation between Azerbaijan and Italy, covering various fields and constantly enriched with new content. Companies of your country, which are among Azerbaijan's important economic partners, are actively involved in the economic life of Azerbaijan. The effective activity of Italian companies in the restoration and reconstruction of the liberated territories is commendable. All this testifies to the high level of our partnership and our determination to further expand our cooperation. We always pay great attention to this cooperation and support it.

I would like to make a special mention of the close humanitarian ties that unite our countries, including fruitful cooperation in the field of science and education. A vivid example of this is the successful cooperation between ADA University, one of the leading higher educational institutions of Azerbaijan, and leading universities of Italy.

I have no doubt that we will be able to further expand our multifaceted relations, making full use of the existing potential and new opportunities, and significantly increase our cooperation in the non-oil sector. Azerbaijan's chairmanship of COP29 and Italy's chairmanship of the G7 this year create new opportunities for our cooperation.

I am confident that we will continue to make joint efforts to further strengthen the friendly relations between Azerbaijan and Italy, in the interests of our people, both bilaterally and within the framework of the European Union.

On this remarkable day, I wish you good health, success in your endeavors, and lasting prosperity and peace to the friendly people of Italy.

Sincerely,

Ilham Aliyev

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan

Baku, May 30, 2024