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GEI Luncheon in honor of H.E. Amb. Armando Varricchio, Ambassador of Italy to the United States

Gei Varricchio 1

Remarks by GEI President Lucio Caputo:

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Today I am very pleased to welcome back to the U.S. and to GEI, Armando Varricchio, the new Ambassador of Italy to Washington.

Born in Venice, Ambassador Varricchio received his MA (summa cum laude) in International Relations from the University of Padua in 1985 and entered the Foreign Affairs Ministry in 1986.

In the first year of his diplomatic career, he was appointed to the Italian Embassy in Budapest in charge of the Economic Office.

In 1992 he was appointed to the Italian Mission to the European Commission, in Rome, in charge of the coordination of Foreign Affairs, Ecofin, and Justice and Home Affairs Councils. While in this position, he served as Member of the Italian delegations to the European Summits of Heads of State and Government.

In 1996 he went on to serve as Counselor at the Prime Minister’s Office in charge of the Europe and Asia Desk.

In 1998 he became Chief of Staff to the Minister for European Affairs, and then, in 1999, he was appointed Diplomatic Advisor to the President of the European Commission and Personal Representative (Sherpa) at the G7/G8 Summits of Okinawa, Genoa and Kananaskis.

In 2002, he was posted to the Italian Embassy in Washington, in charge of the Economic, Trade and Scientific Affairs Section.

On his return to Rome in 2006, he was appointed Deputy Diplomatic Advisor to the President of the Republic.

In 2009, he was named Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Belgrade.

Ambassador Varricchio returned again to Rome in 2012 to serve as Deputy Secretary General at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, before becoming, in 2013, the Diplomatic Advisor and G7/G20 Sherpa of the Prime Minister. In 2014 he was promoted to the rank of Ambassador.

Appointed Ambassador of Italy to the United States, Ambassador Varricchio presented his credentials to President Obama on March 2, 2016.

I have the great pleasure to have known Armando Varricchio for long time and I have followed his extraordinary career in Italy and abroad. I have always admired his great character, exceptional qualities and capacity to efficiently and concretely operate in diverse fields. His economic background and his excellent negotiation skills, together with his knowledge of the U.S. and his recent position as diplomatic advisor to the Italian Prime Minister, make Ambassador Varricchio the perfect person to represent Italy in Washington.

I am, therefore, very pleased to once again welcome back Ambassador Armando Varricchio to the U.S. and to present to him, on behalf of GEI, with the “GEI FRIENDSHIP AWARD” in recognition of his many accomplishments in Italy and abroad. We wish him the best success in his new position.

The luncheon was held on March 21, 2016 in the Stella Private Room

of Le Cirque restaurant in New York City.