Estonia and Italy

Bilateral relations

Italy recognised the Republic of Estonia on 26 January 1921. The first Italian Ambassador to Estonia was Agostino Deprestis, who presented his credentials in February 1921. Before World War II, Italy's Culture Institute was active in Estonia. Historian Indro Montanelli, a grand figure in the Italian press, headed it.

In June 1921, Estonia's first diplomatic representative in Italy Karl Robert Pusta, residing in Paris, presented his credentials. The first Estonian Ambassador to reside in Rome was Karl Tofer (1927-1931). In addition to the legation in Rome, Estonia had Honorary Consulates in Genoa, Milan, Naples, Palermo and Trieste.

Italy re-recognised Estonia on 27 August 1991. Diplomatic relations between Estonia and Italy were restored on 31 August 1991. Italy's first Ambassador to the restored Republic of Estonia was Carlo Siano (1991-1996). The other representatives of Italy in Estonia have been ambassadors Roberto Martini (1996-1999), Luchino Cortese (1999-2002), Ruggero Vozzi (2002-2005), Fabrizio Piaggesi (2005-2009), and Rosa Maria Chicco Ferraro (2009-2012). The current Italian ambassador Marco Clemente presented his credentials to President Toomas Hendrik Ilves on 22 December 2012.

Estonia's Embassy in Rome resumed work in September 1996, led by Chargé d'Affaires a.i. Ruth Lausma. In September 1998, Estonia's first ambassador since the restoration of the Republic Jaak Jõerüüt presented his credentials. After that Estonia was represented from 2002-2006 by Jüri Seilenthal and from 2006-2010 by Andres Tomasberg. The current ambassador Merike Kokajev presented her credentials to Italian President Giorgio Napolitano on 22 September 2010.

Estonia is also represented in Italy by six honorary consuls: Luigi Cecchini in Florence, Eugenio Kielland in Genoa, Mario Forte in Naples, Giuseppe Barranco di Valdivieso in Milan, Marcello Floris in Cagliari and Giuseppe Iazeolla in Bari.

In 1993, the first Italian-Estonian parliamentary group was established in the Riigikogu. The current Italian-Estonian parliamentary group was created in April 2011, and is chaired by Imre Sooäär.

Visits

The most important events in bilateral relations over the past few years were the state visit of Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi to Estonia in the spring of 2004 as well as Foreign Minister Urmas Paet’s working visits to Rome in November 2005 and June 2011; other important visits were Italian Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Alfredo Mantica’s official visit to Estonia in January 2009, Foreign Minister Franco Frattini’s visit in September 2009, and President Toomas Hendrik Ilves’s working visit to Rome in July 2009. A joint communiqué on strengthening co-operation between the foreign ministries of Estonia and Italy was signed in March 2009.

Agreements

Before World War II, two agreements existed between Estonia and Italy: a provisional trade agreement (came into force 27 Feb 1929), and the agreement on the extradition of persons and court assistance in criminal cases (came into force 1 Mar 1938).

Currently the following bilateral agreements are in effect between Estonia and Italy:

•  Agreement on Co-operation in the Field of Tourism (came into force 7 Oct 1998);
• Agreement on the Abolition of Visa Requirements (came into force 8 Feb 1999);
• Agreement on Readmission of Persons (came into force 3 Mar 1999);
• Agreement on Mutual Regulation of International Road Transport of Passengers and Freight (came into force 26 Jan 2000);
• Agreement on Cultural, Educational, Scientific and Technological Co-operation (came into force 30 Jan 2000);
• Convention for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income (came into force 22 Feb 2000);
• Agreement on the Promotion and Protection of Investments (came into force 9 May 2000);
• Agreement Concerning Co-operation in the Field of Defence (came into force 9 Feb 2001);
• Agreement on Mutual Protection of Classified Information (came into force 8 Mar 2001).
• Co-operation agreement against organised crime, terrorism and the illegal drug trade (signed 08.09.2009)
• A joint declaration for reinforced co-operation between the foreign ministries of Estonia and Italy (18.03.2009).

In addition, there also exists a joint declaration on the strengthening of co-operation between the foreign ministries of Estonia and Italy (signed 18 March 2009).

Defence Co-operation

Defence-related bilateral relations with Italy are modest.

An Italian defence attaché resides in Riga, covering both Latvia and Estonia.

Contacts with Italy’s defence structures began in 1995. A defence co-operation agreement was signed in 1998. Co-operation related to peacekeeping has been very good, as Estonian peacekeepers served together with Italian carabinieri from November 1999 to December 2006 within the NATO KFOR Multinational Support Unit in Kosovo.

Italy is one of the founding members of the NATO Cyber Defence Centre and contributes to the centre’s work with a researcher, Lieutenant Colonel Marco de Falco.

Many reciprocal visits took place in 2011. Undersecretary for Defence Planning of the Ministry of Defence Lauri Tumm was in Rome from 12-13 May. From 23-25 May Chief of Staff of the Italian Army Lieutenant General Giuseppe Valotto was in Estonia. On 2 June four cadets from the Higher Military Academy participated in the military parade dedicated to the 105th anniversary of the Republic of Italy. On 14 June 45 Italian officers were in Estonia for a study visit, during which they visited the Riigikogu, the International Centre for Defence Studies, the Ministry of Defence, and the Cyber Defence Centre.

In March of 2010 the Estonian Aviation Museum received a gift from the Italian Air Force – a fighter F-104S ASA Starfighter.

Economic Relations

Estonia-Italy economic relations are characterised by a very strong agreement base. In recent years several business seminars and study trips have taken place with the goal of enlivening economic relations even more.

A seminar introducing business and investment opportunities in Estonia was held in Milan on 1 March 2007, during which presentations about the perspective of Estonia’s economic development, taxes and the tax structure, and opportunities in investing and tourism were presented by Director General of the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Siim Raie, director of the tax policy department of the Ministry of Finance Lemmi Oro, and Enterprise Estonia representative Reet Truuts.

From 21-24 February, a delegation of Estonian tourism agencies led by Enterprise Estonia attended BIT 2008 in Milan, one of the biggest tourism expositions in all of Europe. On 25 February a seminar dedicated to business opportunities in Estonia took place in Milan’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

On 28 February, an Estonian Air presentation was done in Rome in conjunction with the opening of a new Tallinn-Rome-Tallinn direct flight.

From 4-10 November 2008, Estonia was for the first time represented with a stand at the International Biennale of the Sea in Napoli.

On 18 June 2009 a business seminar dedicated to Estonia took place in Erba (in the region of Lombardy) thanks to the co-operation of the Estonian Embassy in Rome, the Estonian honorary consul in Milan and the advertising agency adsGlen. 10 Estonian businesses participated and a representative of Enterprise Estonia as the main speaker.

Enterprise Estonia organised an information day for Italian journalists and travel co-ordinators in November 2009.

In May 2011 the members of the Estonian Dairy Association took a study trip to Italy, and in November Enterprise Estonia organised a study visit for Estonian entrepreneurs to Northern Italy.

TRADE

In 2012 as well as in 2011 and 2010, Italy was Estonia's 15th trading partner, although the pre-crisis level of trade turnover (when Italy was in 10-12 position) has not yet been restored. In 2012 exports to Italy amounted to 181 million EUR and imports from Italy amounted to 306 million. Trade with Italy amounted to 1.9% of Estonia's total trade.

Estonia-Italy trade 2005-2012 (in thousands EUR):

All economic figures originate from the Statistical Office of Estonia

Main export articles in 2012:

• Machinery and equipment – 55.3%
• Precious metals and jewellery products – 7.4%
• Paper pulp and paper products – 7.1%
• Wood and wood products – 6.9%
•  

Main import articles in 2012:

• Machinery and equipment – 29.2%
• Textiles and textile products – 12.2%
• Metals and metal products – 10.6%
• Transportation vehicles – 5.9%

INVESTMENTS

According to the Bank of Estonia, as of 31 December 2012 the total volume of direct investments made by Italian enterprises amounted to 85.9 million EUR, representing 0.46% of all direct investments made in Estonia. Most of the investments were made in real estate, rental leasing and business services. Estonia’s direct foreign investments in Italy as of the same date amounted to 81 million EUR, which accounted for 1.8% of total foreign investments made by Estonia. No data on Estonia’s investments by specific fields has been published.

Culture and Education

n May 1997, Estonia and Italy signed a culture, education, science and technology related agreement that came into force in January 2000. This is a general framework agreement meant to develop and put into practice activities that will help to improve mutually understanding of each other’s cultural heritage while fostering cultural, education, science and technology related co-operation between the two countries.

Within the framework of the same agreement, Estonian and Italian representatives signed a four-year co-operation programme in January 2005 to bring Italian scholars, students and cultural figures to Estonia and to facilitate the culture, education, science and technology related co-operation. This programme supports the translation of literature, co-operation between library, archive and heritage conservation workers, helping them to participate more actively in cultural events. Both countries support the co-operation of culture and art institutions by offering research scholarships for research, language and literature studies and cultural research.

In Estonia, one can study Italian at the Estonian Institute of Humanities. Italian can be taken as a secondary subject at the University of Tartu or at various language schools. Federica Botti works as the official lecturer of the Italian language and culture appointed by the Italian Foreign Ministry at the University of Tartu.

Thanks to the scholarships of the Italian Foreign Ministry and activities of the Italian Embassy in Tallinn, a great number of Estonian students and graduate students have been able to study in Italy.

CULTURAL EVENTS 2010

• On 22 January an exhibit of Andres Lumi’s photos was opened in Cagliari, the capital of Sardinia.
• From 22 January – 2 February the festival Diario dell’Anima, dedicated to Arvo Pärt, took place in Rome and Bologna. Three concerts of Pärt’s music took place in Rome and two in Bologna. The Orchestra of the Academia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia was conducted by Tõnu Kaljuste.
• In February 2010 a possible self-portrait of Leonardo da Vinci was displayed in the Kadriorg Art Museum, and in December a book containing the results of the study done on the painting was released in Rome’s Capitoline Museum.
• At the Rome Independent Film Festival in April, the “NewVision Award 2010” was given to Jaak Kilmi and Kiur Aarma’s documentary “Disco and Atomic War”.
• On 2 October Andres Uibo gave an organ concert in the Milano Cathedral, which by now has become a tradition.
• On 14 October an exhibit of the graphic sheets and book illustrations of Diana Allas, an artist from Võru, was opened in the small town of Nerola in the Lazio region.
• Concerts by Vox Clamatis and a Dutch cello octet featuring the music of Arvo Pärt took place on 8 December in Rome and 9 December in Bari.

CULTURAL EVENTS 2011

• On 12 May photographer Donata Zanotti’s photo exhibit entitled “Estonia: The Future is Young” (“Estonia, il futuro é giovane”) was opened in the Milan exhibit centre Spazio PwC Experience Milano.
• On 14 May an exhibit of the graphic sheets of Diana Allas, an artist from Võru, was opened in Sassello.
• Within the framework of the culture and music festival in Umbria from 7-23 July, the pop-folk band Toro performed and an eshibit of Remo Savisaar’s nature photos entitles “Estonian Magnificent Wildlife” was on display.
• On 15 October Andres Uibo performed on the organ for the third time in Milan’s Cathedral. This year’s concert was dedicated to Tallinn as the 2011 European Capital of Culture. A. Uibo was also invited to be the main performer at the Milan organ festival “Voici della Cittá”.

CULTURAL EVENTS 2012

• On 28 February the exhibit of Epp Maria’s Kokamägi’s paintings entitled “Time of Angels” opened in Genoa. The exhibit includes 28 works that represent an overview of the artist’s work from 2009-2012. During the year the exhibit moved from Genoa to Milan, Florence, Cagliari, Bari, and Venice.
• On the 24 and 26 of February concerts dedicated to the 94^th anniversary of the Republic of Estonia took place at Milan’s most famous classical music concert hall, Auditorio di Milano di Giuseppe Verdi.
• On 28 August, Estonian Minister of Culture Rein Lang opened the Estonian exhibit, entitled “How long is the life of a building?”, at the XIII Venice Architectural Biennial.
• From 13-16 December Baltic Cultural Days took place in the gardens of Villa Giulia in Rome, within the framework of which Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania introduced their traditions and Christmas customs.

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