The Ambassador of Italy to The Hague, Giorgio Novello, will be leaving the Netherlands at the end of the month, and has published his farewell and thanks on the Embassy's website.
"At the end of the month," writes the Ambassador, "I will officially leave my post as Ambassador of Italy to the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Permanent Representative to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPAC), having completed my mandate. I arrived in The Hague in November 2020, with my wife Biancamaria. I spent over four very intense, challenging and rewarding years there. I have seen Italy gradually grow in appreciation and esteem even here in the Netherlands, gaining more and more weight in the many international organisations present here. I have seen, day after day, a growing harmony between Italians, Dutch and internationals, united by a sincere quest for progress in all areas, from the most traditional to the most modern.
I would like to thank you. All of you. I would like to thank the Italian and Dutch institutional-political authorities. Thanks to them, two memorable events among all took place: the State visit of the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella to no less than four locations in the Netherlands in November 2022; and the Van Wittel-Vanvitelli table in Rotterdam in May 2023, co-chaired by the Vice-President of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani, who strongly wanted it to be extended to an economic-entrepreneurial dimension as well. I have seen day by day the increased role of Italy in International Organisations, in my role in particular as Vice-President of the Executive Council of OPAC, as a member of the ICC Bureau, as a member of the Board of Directors of CPA, as co-agent of the Italian government before the IGC, I have also been able to constantly verify the excellence of the Italian personnel serving in these and many other international realities ranging from space, to medicines, to legal cooperation, to police cooperation. I would like to thank my Dutch friends, both Italian and international, in the many and vast sectors in which I was able to interact with them: the high administration, the police force, universities, research centres, business associations, individual companies, artists, writers, political scientists, the military, lawyers, and voluntary associations.
I would like to thank the Italian community in the Netherlands, which has represented (and will continue to do so) the image of our country in the Netherlands, Europe and the world in an excellent way. I am very proud to have been able to show President Mattarella how our compatriots have an excellent presence in all sectors, from the more traditional ones interpreted in an increasingly modern key, to the more innovative ones in which we reserve our ancient wisdom'.
"A very special thank you," he concludes, "goes to my colleagues at the Italian Embassy The Hague and at the Institute of Culture in Amsterdam, to those who are still in service and to those who, having completed their mandate, have already returned home or left for other locations. We committed ourselves, day after day, to a task that was not easy, with a shortage of means and personnel, but we never lacked tenacity, creativity and the will to do good every day. The flattering expressions of appreciation from so many are, I believe, the best recognition of your professional and human qualities'.
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