CAIRO - During the recent celebrations on the occasion of Italian National Day, Italian Ambassador to Cairo Claudio Pacifico declared a new initiative to assist ten people injured during the revolution and still in need of medical care. Pacifico added that the initiative represents a further sign of the concrete friendship and the continuation of the work started last January, when a team of top Italian ophthalmologists came to Egypt and treated 30 Egyptians with eye problems for free at the Italian Hospital in el-Abbasiya. Five of them underwent corneal surgery. He stressed that the fact that Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf attended the National Day celebrations in Rome reflects how close the two countries are. This year, Italy is celebrating 150 years of unity and Pacifico said this brings to mind a time in history, when Egyptians and Italians were also very close. "In their struggle against the colonial powers, young Italian revolutionaries found shelter in Egypt, where they interacted with and were helped by Egyptians," he said, adding that Italy, as a monarchy in the past and now as a republic, has always had very close ties with Egypt. “These special relations, rooted in our common history, have over the decades, helped consolidate a unique strategic partnership between our countries.” Today Italy is Egypt's first European partner and its second, globally, after the United States. Pacifico highlighted one example of the special relations between the two countries: the fact that, last February, Italy's Franco Frattini was the first Western Foreign Minister to come to Egypt, after the revolution to meet with the Egyptian authorities. "He was the first Foreign Minister to be received by Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi. During his visit to Egypt, Minister Frattini reaffirmed the Italian Government's strong commitment not only to continue on the path of strengthening the strategic partnership with the New Egypt, but also supporting, in every possible way, civil and democratic growth, and social and economic development," he said. At the same time, the visit to Rome of Egypt's Foreign Minister Nabil el-Arabi on the 16th-17th May, his first visit abroad, allowed both sides to focus on areas of common interest, as well as to finalise a number of important pending bilateral initiatives, including the third Tranche of the Debt Swap Agreement.
