Italian National Day in Latvia

The 78th anniversary of the proclamation of the Italian Republic was celebrated with a reception in Riga and a ceremony at the Camp Ādaži military base. All pics available on Flickr.

More than 600 guests took part at the reception organised last Friday by the Embassy of Italy in Riga at the Latvian Railway History Museum on the occasion of the Italian Republic Day.

The role of Italian companies in Rail Baltica was the overarching theme of the celebrations. Rail Baltica is a high-speed railway mega project that will connect the three Baltic capitals among themselves and with the rest of Europe by 2030. The reception was sponsored by FS Group – Italy’s national railway holding company.

“The friendship between Italy and Latvia runs at high speed”, remarked Ambassador Alessandro Monti in his speech. “Business, culture, policy, security: Riga and Rome are closer than ever. Today we also celebrate our common European and Allied identity”.

“FS Group is proud to support this event”, commented Roberto Borghi, Country Manager New Markets del FS Group e International Market Director of Italferr Spa – the engineering company of one of the largest Italian industrial players, at the center of the country’s mobility system. “With Italferr we are an active part in the realisation of Rail Baltica, a mega project that embodies perfectly our Europan values”.

The reception was also the occasion for a special award ceremony. Astrida Rogule of the Latvian National Museum of Art, Guntis Rubīns of the Latvian Agency for Investments and Development e Ēriks Badamšins of the Riga Technical University were awarded the Order of the Star of Italy. This honor is bestowed by the President of the Italian Republic upon Italian or foreign citizens who have distinguished themselves in promoting friendly relations and collaboration between Italy and other countries.

Celebrations for the Italian Republic Day continued at the Camp Ādaži military base on Sunday – when the Italian contingent part of the NATO enhanced Forward Presence Battle Group “Latvia” organised a ceremony. Italy is present in Latvia with 300 soldiers from the Italian Army and, specifically, from Bersaglieri Brigade “Garibaldi”.

On social media