United States presidential visits to Southern Europe

Last updated June 13, 2024

Thirteen United States presidents have made presidential visits to Southern Europe. Woodrow Wilson became the first incumbent president to visit a Southern European country in January 1919 in the aftermath of World War I. Visits occurring during the 1940s through 1980s were offshoots of American diplomatic interactions during World War II and then the Cold War.

To date, 33 visits have been made to Italy, 20 Vatican City, 11 to Spain, eight to Portugal, four to Greece, three to Bosnia and Herzegovina, three to Malta, three to Slovenia, two to Croatia, two to Kosovo, one to Albania, and one to Macedonia (now known as North Macedonia). Three were also made to Yugoslavia prior to its breakup during the early 1990s. Of the present-day nations in (or partly within) the region, all but Cyprus, San Marino, Andorra, Montenegro, and Serbia have been visited by a sitting American president.

Table of visits

President	Dates	Country or territory	Locations	Key details
Woodrow Wilson ^[1]	January 1–6, 1919	Italy	Rome, Genoa, Milan, Turin	Met with King Victor Emmanuel III and Prime Minister Vittorio Orlando.
Woodrow Wilson ^[1]	January 4, 1919	Vatican	Apostolic Palace	Audience with Pope Benedict XV.
Franklin D. Roosevelt ^[2]	December 8, 1943	Italy	Castelvetrano	Visited Allied military installations.
	December 8, 1943	Malta	Valletta	Visited Allied military installations
	February 2, 1945	Malta	Floriana	Attended Malta Conference with Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
Dwight D. Eisenhower ^[3]	December 4–6, 1959	Italy	Rome	Informal Visit. Met with President Giovanni Gronchi.
	December 6, 1959	Vatican City	Apostolic Palace	Audience with Pope John XXIII.
	December 14–15, 1959	Greece	Athens	Official Visit. Met with King Paul and Prime Minister Konstantinos Karamanlis. Addressed the Greek Parliament.
	December 21–22, 1959	Spain	Madrid	Met with Generalísimo Francisco Franco.
	May 19–20, 1960	Portugal	Lisbon	Official Visit. Met with President Américo Tomás
John F. Kennedy ^[4]	July 1–2, 1963	Italy	Rome, Naples	Met with President Antonio Segni, Italian and NATO officials.
John F. Kennedy ^[4]	July 2, 1963	Vatican City	Apostolic Palace	Audience with Pope Paul VI.
Lyndon B. Johnson ^[5]	December 23, 1967	Italy	Rome	Met with President Giuseppe Saragat and Prime Minister Aldo Moro.
Lyndon B. Johnson ^[5]	December 23, 1967	Vatican City	Apostolic Palace	Audience with Pope Paul VI.
Richard Nixon ^[6]	February 27–28, 1969	Italy	Rome	Met with President Giuseppe Saragat and Prime Minister Mariano Rumor and other officials.
	March 2, 1969	Vatican City	Apostolic Palace	Audience with Pope Paul VI.
	September 27–30, 1970	Italy	Rome, Naples	Official Visit. Met with President Giuseppe Saragat. Visited NATO Southern Command.
	September 28, 1970	Vatican City	Apostolic Palace	Audience with Pope Paul VI.
	September 30 – October 2, 1970	Yugoslavia	Belgrade, Zagreb	State Visit. Met with President Josip Broz Tito.
	October 2–3, 1970	Spain	Madrid	State Visit. Met with Generalissimo Francisco Franco.
	December 13–14, 1971	Portugal	Terceira Island	Discussed international monetary problems with French President Georges Pompidou and Portuguese Prime Minister Marcelo Caetano.
	June 18–19, 1974	Portugal	Lajes Field	Met with President António de Spínola.
Gerald Ford ^[7]	May 31 – June 1, 1975	Spain	Madrid	Met with Generalissimo Francisco Franco. Received keys to city from Mayor of Madrid, Miguel Angel García-Lomas Mata.
	June 3, 1975	Italy	Rome	Met with President Giovanni Leone and Prime Minister Aldo Moro.
	June 3, 1975	Vatican City	Apostolic Palace	Audience with Pope Paul VI.
	August 3–4, 1975	Yugoslavia	Belgrade	Official Visit. Met with President Josip Broz Tito and Prime Minister Džemal Bijedić.
Jimmy Carter ^[8]	June 19–24, 1980	Italy	Rome, Venice	Attended the 6th G7 summit. State Visit. Met with President Sandro Pertini.
	June 21, 1980	Vatican City	Apostolic Palace	Audience with Pope John Paul II.
	June 24–25, 1980	Yugoslavia	Belgrade	Official Visit. Met with President Cvijetin Mijatović.
	June 25–26, 1980	Spain	Madrid	Official Visit. Met with King Juan Carlos I and Prime Minister Adolfo Suárez.
	June 26–30, 1980	Portugal	Lisbon	Official Visit. Met with President António Ramalho Eanes and Prime Minister Francisco de Sá Carneiro.
Ronald Reagan ^[9]	June 7, 1982	Italy	Rome	State Visit. Met with President Sandro Pertini and Premier Giovanni Spadolini.
	June 7, 1982	Vatican City	Apostolic Palace	Audience with Pope John Paul II.
	May 6–8, 1985	Spain	Madrid	State Visit. Met with King Juan Carlos I and Prime Minister Felipe González.
	May 8–10, 1985	Portugal	Lisbon	State Visit. Met with President António Ramalho Eanes and Prime Minister Mário Soares. Addressed the National Assembly.
	June 3–11, 1987	Italy	Venice, Rome	Attended the 13th G7 summit. Met with President Francesco Cossiga and Prime Minister Amintore Fanfani.
	June 6, 1987	Vatican City	Apostolic Palace	Audience with Pope John Paul II.
George H. W. Bush ^[10]	May 26–28, 1989	Italy	Rome, Nettuno	Met with President Francesco Cossiga and Prime Minister Ciriaco De Mita.
	May 27, 1989	Vatican City	Apostolic Palice	Audience with Pope John Paul II.
	December 1–3, 1989	Malta	Valletta, Marsaxlokk	Attended the Summit Meeting with Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev. Also met with Maltese Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami.
	July 18–20, 1991	Greece	Athens, Souda Bay	Met with Prime Minister Konstantinos Mitsotakis. Addressed U.S. and Greek military personnel.
	October 29–30, 1991	Spain	Madrid	Met with Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez Marquez and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. Attended the opening session of the Middle East Peace Conference.
	November 6–8, 1991	Italy	Rome	Attended the NATO Summit Meeting.
	November 8, 1991	Vatican City	Apostolic Palace	Audience with Pope John Paul II.
Bill Clinton ^[11]	June 2–4, 1994	Italy	Rome, Nettuno	Met with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro. Visited U.S. Military Cemetery.
	June 2, 1994	Vatican City	apostolic Palace	Audience with Pope John Paul II.
	July 7–10, 1994	Italy	Naples	Attended the 20th G7 summit. Met with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and Russian President Boris Yeltsin.
	December 2–3, 1995	Spain	Madrid	Attended the European Union Summit Meeting.
	January 13, 1996	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Tuzla	Met with President Alija Izetbegović. Addressed U.S. military personnel.
	January 13, 1996	Croatia	Zagreb	Met with President Franjo Tudjman.
	January 13, 1996	Italy	Aviano Air Base	Met with U.S. military personnel.
	July 4–10, 1997	Spain	Palma de Mallorca, Madrid, Granada	Vacationed with King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sophia. Attended the 15th NATO Summit Meeting.
	December 22, 1997	Italy	Aviano Air Base	Stopped en route to and from Bosnia-Herzegovina.
	December 22, 1997	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Sarajevo, Tuzla	Met with the Bosnian Collective Presidency and Bosnian Serb President Biljana Plavšić. Visited U.S. military personnel.
	November 20–21, 1999	Italy	Florence	Attended conference on Progressive Governance for the 21st Century.
	June 21–22, 1999	Slovenia	Ljubljana	Met with President Milan Kučan, Prime Minister Janez Drnovšek and Montenegrin President Milo Đukanović.
	June 22, 1999	Macedonia	Skopje	Met with President Kiro Gligorov. Addressed Kosovar refugees and NATO military personnel.
	June 22, 1999	Italy	Aviano Air Base	Addressed U.S. military personnel.
	July 29–30, 1999	Italy	Aviano Air Base	Stopped en route to Sarajevo.
	March 18, 2000	Italy	Aviano Air Base	Stopped en route to India.
	July 30, 1999	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Sarajevo	Attended Stability Pact Leaders Conference.
	November 19–20, 1999	Greece	Athens	State Visit. Met with Prime Minister Konstantinos Simitis.
	November 23, 1999	Kosovo	Pristina, Uroševac, Camp Bondsteel	Met with Kosovar Transitional Council. Addressed the Albanian community and U.S. military personnel.
	May 30 – June 1, 2000	Portugal	Lisbon	Attended the U.S.-EU Summit Meeting. Met with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.^[12]
George W. Bush	June 12–13, 2001	Spain	Madrid	Met with King Juan Carlos I and Prime Minister José María Aznar.
	June 16, 2001	Slovenia	Kranj	Attended the summit meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Also met with Prime Minister Janez Drnovšek.
	July 20–24, 2001	Italy	Genoa, Castel Gandolfo, Rome	Attended the 27th G8 summit. Met with Pope John Paul II. Also met with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi.
	July 24, 2001	Kosovo	Camp Bondsteel	Addressed U.S. military personnel.
	May 28, 2002	Vatican City	Apostolic Palace	Audience with Pope John Paul II.
	May 27–28, 2002	Italy	Rome	Met with President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Attended the NATO Summit Meeting and inaugurated the NATO-Russia Council.
	March 16, 2003	Portugal	Terceira Island	Discussed the Iraq crisis with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Spanish Prime Minister José María Aznar and Portuguese Prime Minister José Manuel Barroso.
	June 4–5, 2004	Italy	Rome	Met with President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
	June 4, 2004	Vatican City	Apostolic Palace	Met with Pope John Paul II.
	April 6–8, 2005	Vatican City	St. Peter's Basilica	Attended the funeral of Pope John Paul II.
	April 6–8, 2005	Italy	Rome	Met with President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
	June 8–10, 2007	Italy	Rome	Met with President Giorgio Napolitano and Prime Minister Romano Prodi.
	June 9, 2007	Vatican City	Apostolic Palace	Audience with Pope Benedict XVI.
	June 10, 2007	Albania	Tirana	Met with President Alfred Moisiu and Prime Minister Sali Berisha.
	April 4–5, 2008	Croatia	Zagreb	Met with President Stjepan Mesić.
	June 9–10, 2008	Slovenia	Ljubljana	Met with President Danilo Türk and Prime Minister Janez Janša. Attended the EU-US Summit Meeting.
	June 11–13, 2008	Italy	Rome	Met with President Giorgio Napolitano and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
	June 13, 2008	Vatican City	Apostolic Palace	Met with Pope Benedict XVI.
Barack Obama ^[13]	July 8–10, 2009	Italy	L'Aquila, Rome	Attended the 35th G8 summit. Also met with the leaders of Angola, Algeria, Australia, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, and various international organizations.
	July 10, 2009	Vatican City	Apostolic Palace	Audience with Pope Benedict XVI.
	November 19–20, 2010	Portugal	Lisbon	Attended the NATO Summit Meeting and the U.S.-EU Summit Meeting. Met with President Aníbal Cavaco Silva and Prime Minister José Sócrates.
	March 27, 2014	Vatican City	Apostolic Palace	Audience with Pope Francis.^[14]
	March 27, 2014	Italy	Rome	Met with President Giorgio Napolitano and Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. Visited the Roman Colosseum.
	July 9–10, 2016	Spain	Madrid, Rota	Met with King Felipe VI and Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. Also met with American military personnel stationed at Naval Station Rota.
	November 15–16, 2016	Greece	Athens	State Visit. Met with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and President Prokopis Pavlopoulos. Toured Acropolis and Acropolis Museum.
Donald Trump	May 23–24, 2017	Italy	Rome	Met with President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni.
	May 24, 2017	Vatican City	Apostolic Palace	Audience with Pope Francis.
	May 25–27, 2017	Italy	Taormina	Attended the 43rd G7 summit.
Joe Biden	October 29, 2021	Vatican City	Apostolic Palace	Audience with Pope Francis.
	October 29 – November 1, 2021	Italy	Rome	Met with President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Mario Draghi. Attended the G20 summit.
	June 28–30, 2022	Spain	Madrid	Attended the NATO Summit Meeting
	June 13–15, 2024	Italy	Borgo Egnazia	Attended the 50th G7 summit.

Visits of former presidents

Martin Van Buren and Millard Fillmore each met (separately) with Pope Pius IX in Rome in 1855, as did Franklin Pierce in November 1857.^[15] Ulysses S. Grant met with Pope Leo XIII in the Vatican in 1878, during a world tour after leaving the presidency.^[16]

Theodore Roosevelt sought an audience with Pope Pius X in April 1910 while in Rome. The Pope agreed to see him, provided Roosevelt would not call on some Methodist missionaries in Rome. Roosevelt had no intention of meeting the missionaries, but he declined to submit to the pope's conditions and the interview did not take place.^[17]

Former presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton accompanied President George W. Bush to the funeral of Pope John Paul II in April 2005.

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References

↑ "Travels of President Woodrow Wilson". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
↑ "Travels of President Franklin D. Roosevelt". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
↑ "Travels of President Dwight D. Eisenhower". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
↑ "Travels of President John F. Kennedy". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
↑ "Travels of President Lyndon B. Johnson". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
↑ "Travels of President Richard M. Nixon". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
↑ "Travels of President Gerald R. Ford". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
↑ "Travels of President Jimmy Carter". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
↑ "Travels of President Ronald Reagan". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
↑ "Travels of President George H. W. Bush". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian. Archived from the original on 2011-11-09. Retrieved 2016-03-20.
↑ "Travels of President William J. Clinton". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian. Archived from the original on 2011-10-16. Retrieved 2016-03-20.
↑ "Travels of President William J. Clinton". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
↑ "Travels of President Barack Obama". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
↑ Abdullah, Halimah (March 27, 2014). "Obama, Pope Francis meet for first time". CNN. Archived from the original on March 28, 2014.
↑ DeGregorio, William A. The Complete Book of US Presidents W.W. Norton 1989 ISBN 978-1-56980-286-1
↑ McFeely, William S. (1981). Grant: A Biography. Norton. pp. 466–467. ISBN 0-393-01372-3.
↑ Durant, John and Alice Pictorial History of American Presidents A. S. Barnes and Company 1955 p. 216

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[1] "Travels of President Woodrow Wilson". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.

[2] "Travels of President Franklin D. Roosevelt". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.

[3] "Travels of President Dwight D. Eisenhower". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.

[4] "Travels of President John F. Kennedy". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.

[5] "Travels of President Lyndon B. Johnson". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.

[6] "Travels of President Richard M. Nixon". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.

[7] "Travels of President Gerald R. Ford". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.

[8] "Travels of President Jimmy Carter". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.

[9] "Travels of President Ronald Reagan". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.

[10] "Travels of President George H. W. Bush". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian. Archived from the original on 2011-11-09. Retrieved 2016-03-20.

[11] "Travels of President William J. Clinton". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian. Archived from the original on 2011-10-16. Retrieved 2016-03-20.

[WJCtravels-12] "Travels of President William J. Clinton". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.

[13] "Travels of President Barack Obama". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.

[14] Abdullah, Halimah (March 27, 2014). "Obama, Pope Francis meet for first time". CNN. Archived from the original on March 28, 2014.

[15] DeGregorio, William A. The Complete Book of US Presidents W.W. Norton 1989 ISBN 978-1-56980-286-1

[16] McFeely, William S. (1981). Grant: A Biography. Norton. pp. 466–467. ISBN 0-393-01372-3.

[17] Durant, John and Alice Pictorial History of American Presidents A. S. Barnes and Company 1955 p. 216

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United States presidential visits to Southern Europe

Contents

Table of visits

Visits of former presidents

See also

Related Research Articles

References