Cairo - Egyptian-Italian relations have soared since the death of Italian PhD student Giulio Regeni, who was tortured and killed in Cairo in early 2016. Italian authorities accused Egyptian security forces of killing him. The number of Italian tourists visiting Egypt dropped significantly after Regeni's incident. Paola and Claudio Regeni (Regeni's parents) urged that Italy's ambassador to Cairo not return to Egypt, since this "would give a signal of detente that must not be given", and stressed the importance of not sending Egypt spare parts for F35 fighter jets until justice has been served. In April 2016, Italy recalled its Ambassador to Cairo Maurizio Massari over the death of Regeni. Italy has yet to send an ambassador back to Cairo after protesting delays in investigating the case. Successive Italian governments have vowed to help Regeni's parents get to the truth of the death of their son, who was working on Egyptian trade unions. Receiving the delegation led by ruling centre-left Democratic Party (PD) Senator Latorre, El-Sisi said he wanted to relaunch ties with Italy.
"Egypt aspires to develop its historical relations that tie it to Italy and to relaunch them," MENA news agency said, citing presidential spokesman Youssef. El-Sisi also stated his "confidence in the capacity of relations between the two countries to overcome the various challenges". El-Sisi stressed the importance of boosting parliamentary visits "to lend fresh impetus to the privileged ties of friendship between the Egyptian and Italian peoples". Latorre told the Italian newspaper La Stampa that solving Regini's death case is critical, but that the case has nothing to do with the proposed return of the Italian ambassador to Egypt, saying that Italy's diplomatic presence would serve to alleviate any tension that might exist between the two countries.
