Dmitry Medvedev sent a message to President of Italy Giorgio Napolitano on the country’s national holiday, Republic Day.

The President said, in particular, in his message:

“Russian-Italian relations are growing vigorously today in a spirit of true friendship and partnership. Sincere feelings of mutual sympathy and respect that have stood the test of time form the foundations of this positive cooperation between our countries.

It is important to see that our bilateral cooperation is expanding constantly and that we continue to enrich it with new political, economic, and cultural-humanitarian initiatives. A good example of this is the Year of Italian Language and Culture in Russia, and the Year of Russian Language and Culture in Italy, which will take place next year.

Russia and Italy make a substantial contribution to resolving current international issues, from developing new mechanisms for ensuring global and European security to establishing effective instruments to help us overcome the global economic crisis.

I am certain that our joint efforts will enable us to raise our level of cooperation to new heights and give it important new projects that will benefit the peoples of both countries.”

Direct link to the press release