Greece | Italy |
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Greece and Italy enjoy special and very strong bilateral diplomatic relations. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] Modern diplomatic relations between the two countries were established right after Italy's unification, and are today regarded as cordial. The two states cooperate in fields of energy, security, culture and tourism, and are major trading partners, both in exports and imports. Greeks and Italians often exchange the phrase "una faccia, una razza", meaning "one face, one race".
Greece and Italy share common political views about the Balkans, the Mediterranean Basin and the world, and are leading supporters of the integration of all the Balkan nations to the Euro-Atlantic family, and promoted the "Agenda 2014", [6] which was proposed by the Greek Government in 2004 as part of the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Thessaloniki, to integrate the Western Balkan nations into the EU by the year 2014, when Greece and Italy assumed the rotating Presidency of the European Union for the first and second halves of 2014, respectively. [7] [8] [9]
The two countries are European Union, NATO and United Nations member states, and cooperate in many other multilateral organizations, such as the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, and the Union for the Mediterranean, while at same time they are promoting closer diplomatic relations and cooperation with other key countries and organizations, such as the United States, Israel and the African Union. [10]
Greece (which had gained its independence in 1830) and Italy established diplomatic relations in 1861, immediately upon Italy's unification. [11] Italian philhellenes had contributed to the Greek independence, such as the jurist Vincenzo Gallina, Annibale Santorre di Rossi de Pomarolo, Count of Santarosa and Giuseppe Rosaroll.
Throughout the 19th century, Italian philhellenes continued to support Greece politically and militarily. For example, Ricciotti Garibaldi led a volunteer expedition (Garibaldini) in the Greco-Turkish War of 1897. [12] A group of Garibaldini, headed by the Greek poet Lorentzos Mavilis, fought also with the Greek side during the Balkan Wars.
In early 1912, during the Italo-Turkish War, Italy occupied the predominantly Greek-inhabited Dodecanese Islands in the Aegean Sea from the Ottoman Empire. Although later with the 1919 Venizelos–Tittoni agreement, Italy promised to cede them to Greece, Carlo Sforza in 1920 renounced the accord. [13]
In 1913, after the end of the First Balkan War, lands of Northern Epirus were ceded to Greece, but Italy challenged the decision and in the Treaty of London the region was given to the newly created Albania. The local Greek population was enraged and created the Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus, before it was reluctantly ceded to Albania, with peace assured by Italian peacekeeping force until 1919. [14] Italy rejected the decision because it didn't want Greece to control both sides of the Straits of Corfu. [15] In addition, although Sazan Island was ceded to Greece in 1864 as part of the Diapontia Islands, Greece ceded the island to the newly independent Albania in 1914 after the pressure of Italy, and since Greece didn't want to risk a war with Italy. Italy took possession of the island in 1920 and kept it through World War II.
During the World War I, both Italy and Greece were members of the Allies and fought against the Central Powers but when the Italians found that Greece had been promised land in Anatolia at the Paris Peace Conference, 1919, the Italian delegation withdrew from the conference for several months. Italy occupied parts of Anatolia which threatened the Greek occupation zone and the city of Smyrna. Greek troops were landed and the Greco-Turkish War (1919–22) began with Greek troops advanced into Anatolia. Turkish forces eventually defeated the Greeks and with Italian aid, recovered the lost territory, including Smyrna. [16]
When the Italian fascists gained power in 1922, they persecuted the Greek-speakers in Italy. [17] In addition, the Greeks in Dodecanese and Northern Epirus, which back then were under Italian occupation and influence respectively, were persecuted. [18] [19]
In 1923, the new Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini used the murder of an Italian general on the Greco-Albanian border as a pretext to bombard and temporarily occupy Corfu, due to Corfu's strategic position at the entrance of the Adriatic Sea. [20] [21] [22]
The Greek general Theodoros Pangalos, who governed Greece as a dictator in 1925–26, sought to revise the Treaty of Lausanne of 1923 and launch a revanchist war against Turkey. To this end, Pangalos sought Italian diplomatic support, as Italy still had ambitions in Anatolia, but in the event, nothing came of his overtures to Mussolini. [23] After the fall of Pangalos and the restoration of relative political stability in 1926, efforts were undertaken to normalize relations with Greece's neighbours. To this end, the Greek government, especially Foreign Minister Andreas Michalakopoulos, put renewed emphasis on improving relations with Italy, leading to the signature of a trade agreement in November 1926. The Italian–Greek rapprochement had a positive impact on Greek relations with other Balkan countries, and after 1928 was continued by the new government of Eleftherios Venizelos, culminating in the treaty of friendship signed by Venizelos in Rome on 23 September 1928. [24] Mussolini favoured this treaty, as it aided in his efforts to diplomatically isolate Yugoslavia from potential Balkan allies. An offer of alliance between the two countries was rebuffed by Venizelos but during the talks Mussolini personally offered "to guarantee Greek sovereignty" on Macedonia and assured Venizelos that in case of an external attack on Thessaloniki by Yugoslavia, Italy would join Greece. [25] [26]
During the late 1920s and early 1930s, Mussolini sought diplomatically to create "an Italian-dominated Balkan bloc that would link Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, and Hungary". Venizelos countered the policy with diplomatic agreements among Greek neighbours and established an "annual Balkan conference ... to study questions of common interest, particularly of an economic nature, with the ultimate aim of establishing some kind of regional union". This increased diplomatic relations and by 1934 was resistant to "all forms of territorial revisionism". [27] Venizelos adroitly maintained a principle of "open diplomacy" and was careful not to alienate traditional Greek patrons in Britain and France. [28] The Greco-Italian friendship agreement ended Greek diplomatic isolation and the beginning of a series of bilateral agreements, most notably the Greco-Turkish Friendship Convention in 1930. This process culminated in the signature of the Balkan Pact between Greece, Yugoslavia, Turkey and Romania, which was a counter to Bulgarian revisionism. [29]
Italy, an Axis power, invaded Greece in the Greco-Italian War of 1940–41, but it was only with German intervention that the Axis succeeded in controlling Greece. Italian forces were part of the Axis occupation of Greece. Italy ceded the Dodecanese to Greece as part of the Treaty of Peace following World War II in 1947. As a consequence most of the Italians emigrated. After World War II and at the end of the Italian fascist regime, relations between the two countries were significantly improved. Many Greeks, mostly leftists, found also refuge in Italy during the Greek military junta years. Today, there are still historical Greek communities in Italy and Italian communities in Greece.
Relations between the two countries have stayed strong in the 21st century. In December 2022, Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni referred to the "close relationship" between Greece and Italy, mentioning the common issues, interests and approaches both countries share. She encouraged that Greece and Italy's cooperation and work together "must continue". [30] Meloni also said that she is "extremely interested in working to further enhance bilateral relations with Greece" to solve migration crises. [31] Meloni and Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met each other in Brussels on 15 December 2022. Meloni called the meeting "cordial and fruitful", while both gave a "shared will" to strengthen relations even further. [32] In September 2023, Meloni and Mitsotakis met in Athens to discuss cooperation in the fields of energy and migrant issues. [33]
Greece is one of Italy's main economic partners and they co-operate in many fields, including judicial, scientific and educational, and on the development of tourism, an important sector in both countries. There are regular high-level visits between the two countries, [34] such as the visit of the Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras to Italy in July 2014, [35] [36] and there are frequent contacts between the two countries at ministerial level on various matters concerning individual sectors.
Current projects between the two countries include the Greece–Italy pipeline (which is part of the Interconnector Turkey-Greece-Italy pipeline (ITGI)), and the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP).
Greece and Italy are NATO allies and maintain a close military cooperation. The exercise "Italic Weld", which was a combined air-naval-ground exercise in northern Italy involving the United States, Italy, Turkey, and Greece, appears to have been one of the first exercises in which the new Italian Army orientation was tested. [37]
An Italian military contingent participated in a NATO mission to assist Greece in ensuring security during the 2004 Summer Olympics. [38]
The two countries, along with the United States, also are participating in large-scale military drills conducted on annual basis by non-NATO member Israel, which are code-named "Blue Flag", and which take place in the region of eastern Mediterranean. [39]
On March 27 2017, Italy participated in "Iniochus 2017" military exercise, which is organized annually by Greece, along with the United States, Israel, and the United Arab Emirates. [40] [41]
Both countries are full members of many international organizations, including NATO, the European Union, the Council of Europe, the OECD and the WTO. Greece and Italy were also part of the European Territorial Cooperation Programme (2007–2013), for the boost of cross-border cooperation in the Mediterranean Sea.
The Hellenic Institute for Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Studies opened in Venice in 1951, providing for the study of Byzantine and Post-Byzantine history in Italy.
The Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Atene in Athens is responsible for promoting Italian culture in Greece.
In July 2014, an official artistic exhibition with the title "Italy – Greece: one face, one race" was inaugurated in Rome on the occasion of the passing of the EU Council Presidency from Greece to Italy. [42] [43] [44] [45] [46] The title of the exhibition refers to a Greek saying, "μια φάτσα μια ράτσα" (mia fatsa mia ratsa, cf. Italian una faccia, una razza), often used in Greece and Italy to express the perception of close cultural affinities between Greeks and Italians. [47] The term is often believed to have originated in the Italian-occupied Dodecanese Islands in an attempt to unite the people living there,[ citation needed ] however modern-day Greeks and Italians have since adopted the term for themselves. [47]
Greeks have lived in southern Italy (Magna Grecia) for millennia, and today are called Griko. [48] There are also Italians in Corfu.
The Italian ports of Bari, Brindisi, Ancona, Venice and Trieste on the Adriatic Sea's Italian coast have daily passenger and freight ferries to the Greek ports of Corfu, Patra, Igoumenitsa and Kalamata, avoiding overland transit via the Balkan Peninsula.
As one of the oldest Euro-Atlantic member states in the region of Southeast Europe, Greece enjoys a prominent geopolitical role as a middle power, due to its political and geographical proximity to Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Its main allies are the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Cyprus and the rest of the European Union and NATO.
Cham Albanians or Chams, are a sub-group of Albanians who originally resided in the western part of the region of Epirus in southwestern Albania and northwestern Greece, an area known among Albanians as Chameria. The Chams have their own particular cultural identity within Albanian sub-groups. A number of Chams contributed to the Albanian national identity and played an important role in starting the renaissance of the Albanian culture in the 19th century. The Chams speak their own dialect of the Albanian language, the Cham Albanian dialect, which is a Southern Tosk Albanian dialect and one of the two most conservative ones; the other being Arvanitika.
The Battle of Sarantaporo, also variously transliterated as Sarantaporon or Sarandaporon, took place on 9–10 October, 1912. It was the first major battle fought between Greek forces under Crown Prince Constantine and Ottoman forces under General Hasan Tahsin Pasha during the First Balkan War. The battle began when the Greek army attacked the Ottoman defensive line at the Sarantaporo pass, which connected Thessaly with central Macedonia.
Kostas Georgakis was a Greek student studying geology in Italy. On 26 July 1970, while in Italy, he gave an interview denouncing the dictatorial regime of Georgios Papadopoulos. The junta retaliated by attacking him, pressuring his family, and rescinding his military exemption. In a final, fatal, protest in the early hours of 19 September 1970, Georgakis set himself ablaze in Matteotti square in Genoa. He died later that day, an estimated 1,500 people attended his 22 September funeral, with hundreds of anti-junta resistance members leading a demonstration. Melina Mercouri carried a bouquet for the hero of the anti-junta. After being briefly interred in Genoa his remains were transported by ship to Corfu, and on 18 January 1971 he was buried. After the junta collapsed the Government of Greece erected a monument and plaque in his home town of Corfu, another plaque was placed in Matteotti square, and multiple poems have been written in his honor.
Bulgaria–Greece relations refer to bilateral relations between Bulgaria and Greece.
Greco–Romanian relations are foreign relations between Greece and Romania. Both countries are full members of the Council of Europe, the European Union, NATO and United Nations.
Both Greece and Spain are members of the European Union, NATO, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the OECD, the Union for the Mediterranean, and the United Nations.
Greco-Russian relations are the bilateral foreign relations between Greece and Russia. The two countries first entered into diplomatic relations in 1828. Both Greece and Russia are members of international organizations and agreements, including the United Nations, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation.
The nations of Greece and Mexico established diplomatic relations in 1938. Early Greek migration to Mexico contributed to the industrial agricultural development of the North-Western Pacific state of Sinaloa. Both nations are members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the United Nations.
France–Greece relations, or Franco-Greek relations, are foreign relations between France and Greece. In modern history, both countries established diplomatic relations in 1833, three years after Greek Independence. France and Greece, due to strong cultural and historical ties, have had a traditionally strong and special relationship and strategic alliance for decades and today enjoy strong diplomatic relations also.
Spyros Spyromilios was a Greek Gendarmerie officer and guerilla fighter who took part in the Greco-Turkish War of 1897, the Greek Struggle for Macedonia, and the Balkan Wars. In 1914 he proclaimed the Autonomy of his native town, Himarra, and joined the autonomist struggle of Northern Epirus against its inclusion within the newly established Principality of Albania.
Viktor Dousmanis was a Hellenic Army officer, who rose to the rank of Lieutenant General. He distinguished himself as a staff officer during the Balkan Wars and became a leading monarchist during the National Schism, serving three terms as Chief of the Hellenic Army General Staff.
Egypt–Greece relations refer to bilateral relations between Egypt and Greece. Due to the strong cultural and historical ties between the two nations, Egypt and Greece today enjoy friendly relations. Modern diplomatic relations between the two countries were established after Greece gained its independence in 1830, and are today regarded as cordial. Both countries are members and partners in several international organizations such as the UN, IMF, OSCE, and the Union for the Mediterranean.
Alexandros Pilatos Sakellariou was a Greek admiral and politician, who led the Royal Hellenic Navy in World War II.
The Greek–Serbian Alliance of 1913 was signed at Thessaloniki on 1 June 1913, in the aftermath of the First Balkan War, when both countries wanted to preserve their gains in Macedonia from Bulgarian expansionism. The treaty formed the cornerstone of Greek–Serbian relations for a decade, remaining in force through World War I until 1924.
Lambros Koromilas was a Greek economist and diplomat, and one of the leading figures in the Macedonian Struggle during his tenure as Greek Consul-General to Thessaloniki in 1904–1907. He also served as Finance Minister in 1910–1912 and Foreign Minister before and during the Balkan Wars of 1912–1913.
Alexandros Hatzikyriakos was a Greek Navy officer who rose to the rank of rear admiral. He played a major role in the establishment of the Second Hellenic Republic in 1924, and served thrice as Minister for Naval Affairs and two brief periods as Foreign Minister.
The Greek–Romanian Non-Aggression and Arbitration Pact was a non-aggression pact signed between Greece and Romania on 21 March 1928. The pact effectively ended Greece's diplomatic isolation within the Balkan peninsula, strengthening its position on the negotiating table with Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Turkey. Romania on the other hand gained a regional ally against its Slavic neighbors.
The Prespa Agreement, also known as the Treaty of Prespa, the Prespes deal or the Prespa accord, is an agreement reached in 2018 between Greece and the then-Republic of Macedonia, under the auspices of the United Nations, resolving a long-standing dispute between the two countries. Apart from resolving the terminological differences, the agreement also covers areas of cooperation between the two countries in order to establish a strategic partnership.
Greece–Portugal relations refer to bilateral relations between Greece and Portugal. The diplomatic relations between the two countries date back to 1835, following the independence of Greece. The Greek government sought to establish diplomatic relations with Portugal, and nominated the Count Andreas Metaxas as the first Greek Ambassador non-resident in Lisbon. On 29 May 1924, Portugal recognized, de jure and de facto, the Second Hellenic Republic,. It has kept diplomatic relations with Greece until the present day. Portugal and Greece maintain a strong diplomatic relationship, strengthened by the fact that both countries are present in multiple international organizations, such as the Council of Europe, European Union, NATO and the United Nations.
Luigi Di Maio expressed his gratitude to the Greek people and the Greek government for their solidarity and support [to Italy] in tackling the pandemic, noting that the two countries are united by the deepest ties. (Original: Τις ευχαριστίες του στον ελληνικό λαό και την κυβέρνηση για την αλληλεγγύη τους και τη στήριξη στην αντιμετώπιση της πανδημίας εξέφρασε ο Λουίτζι ντι Μάιο, σημειώνοντας πως τις δύο χώρες ενώνουν βαθύτατοι δεσμοί.)