New York, February 22 2023- GEI, Gruppo Esponenti Italiani, honored Vice President of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Honorable Antonio Tajani.
After careful consideration, GEI board has decided to present the annual Award, a Pomodoro bronze sculpture representing the close Transatlantic relationship between Italy and the United States, to the minister for his strong commitment both to a United Europe and the Transatlantic relationship and for his leadership in strengthening the Italian commitment to defend the Ukrainian quest for freedom The event happened in the important venue of the board Room of the New York Stock Exchange. We are grateful for the help and support we had both from Italian Embassy in Washington and Madam Ambassador Mariangela Zappia, our honorary chair, and from the Italian General Consulate in New York and Consul General Fabrizio Di Michele in organizing this event. GEI formed a Welcoming Committee for the hon. Tajani, which include the follow: Simone Bemporad, Assicurazioni Generali; Mariafrancesca Carli, BDT& Company; Carlo Tunioli Edizione SPA; Enrico Viale, Enel North America; Marco Margheri, ENI; Matteo Torre, Ferrari North America/Exor; Marco Galbiati, Fincantieri Marine Group; Pierpaolo Monti, Intesa Sanpaolo; Monica Mandelli, KKR; Alfredo D’Innocenzo, Lavazza Americas; Riccardo Casale, Leonardo; Christian Steffens, Unicredit.
On October 22, 2022 the Hon. Tajani was appointed Vice President of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in the new Italian Government led by the Hon. Giorgia Meloni. From 2019 to 2022 he served as Chair of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs and of the Conference of Committee Chairs of the European Parliament. On 17 January 2017 he was elected President of the European Parliament. In this capacity, he organized the “Debates on the Future of Europe”, attended by 18 heads of State and Government. He has been in the European Parliament for more than 20 years- he was elected for the first time in 1994- and during this period, he demonstrated a strong commitment to the European project and to the citizens of the European Union. In 1994, the Hon. Tajani was a co-founder of Forza Italia. He was the party’s regional coordinator in Lazio from 1994 to 2005. In the first Berlusconi government, he served as the Prime Minister’s spokesperson. Before entering his political career, he was, starting in 1980, for many years a journalist. He worked as a parliamentary reporter, as a Rai Radio1 news presenter and lead Rome editor of the “Il Giornale”, newspaper edited by Indro Montanelli. The Hon. Tajani was also a special correspondent in Lebanon, the Soviet Union and Somalia. He graduated in Law from the University of Rome – La Sapienza and was an officer in the Italian Air Force