Italian Ambassador Emanuela D'Alessandro chaired the annual consular coordination meeting in France on Friday: the consuls-general in Paris, Lyon, Metz, Marseille and Nice, together with the secretary-general of the General Council of Italians Abroad and the other three members for France of the CGIE, and the presidents of the six Committees of Italians Abroad active in France, met in the Sicilian Theatre of the Italian Embassy in Paris to discuss trends and developments in the local Italian communities and in the provision of consular services, and the activities of the representative bodies of compatriots, with the related challenges and opportunities. Senator Andrea Crisanti and Member of Parliament Simone Billi, in their capacity as Members of Parliament elected in the European constituency, took part in the meeting.
The meeting was also an opportunity for the Ambassador to present the Secretary General of the Cgie, Maria Chiara Prodi, with the diploma and insignia of the title of Officer of the Order of the Star of Italy, conferred on her by the President of the Republic at the proposal of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, for her outstanding merits in promoting the interests of Italians abroad.
The Italian community in France, which has been growing for years and is close to half a million residents, is the sixth largest in the world and the second largest in the European Union after Germany. Equally growing is the demand for services to our consular network in France, which in the first nine months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023 issued, for example, 14.1% and 12.5% more passports and electronic identity cards respectively.
"The Embassy is committed to accompanying and supporting the activities of our important consular network in France and to emphasising the added value of the Italian community in the intense and deep relations that Italy and France have: Italians in France contribute to spreading our know-how, our values and our culture, and theirs is a great success story that continues to be written," said Ambassador D'Alessandro.
"The merits I am recognised for," said Secretary General Prodi on receiving the OSI Officer's honour, "could not exist without the democratic infrastructure of the representation of Italians abroad, in which thousands of volunteers, animated by love and commitment for our country, work every day. This symbolic gesture, which deeply honours me, motivates me and makes me a witness to a precious feeling of national unity'.
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