The Permanent Representative, Ambassador Vincenzo Celeste
Born in Naples on 6 September 1962, he graduated in Law from the University Federico II of Naples on 9 July 1987. He joined the diplomatic service on 13 February 1989.
From 14 November 1989 he served at the Directorate General for Migration and Social Affairs, first in the Office for Italians in the Americas and Oceania and later in the same Directorate General’s Secretariat.
On 3 May 1993 he was appointed Second Secretary at the Italian Embassy in Damascus.
On 21 July 1997 he was appointed First Secretary and later Counsellor at the Italian Embassy in Sofia.
Upon returning to Rome, in December 2000, he was assigned to the General Directorate for Multilateral Political Affairs and Human Rights at the Disarmament Office and from 3 September 2002 to the General Secretariat, Coordination Unit.
Embassy Counsellor on 2 July 2004, from 19 September 2005 he was appointed to the Permanent Representation of Italy to the EU in Brussels, with the rank of First Counsellor.
Returning to Rome again in 2010, he served at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers as Coordinator of the Structure for Procedures for infringement of EU law.
Minister Plenipotentiary on 2 January 2011, he was appointed Diplomatic Counsellor to the Minister for European Affairs from the end of 2011.
On 27 June 2013 he was appointed Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy in London and on 10 July 2018 Deputy Chief of Cabinet of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
On 31 August 2019 he was appointed Director General for Europe and International Trade Policy.
He is Permanent Representative of Italy to the European Union from 17 April 2023.
Awarded the honour of:
“Commendatore” dell’Ordine al Merito della Repubblica italiana, 2021
The Deputy Permanent Representative, Ambassador Marco Canaparo
Born in Orvieto (Terni), December 27, 1971, he graduated in Law on May 10, 1996, at the Sapienza University of Rome.
December 30, 1999: joined the Italian diplomatic service
From October 10, 2000: Second Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation – Directorate-General for European Integration, Office III.
From July 2, 2001: Assigned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation – Directorate-General for European Integration.
From November 4, 2002, to December 30, 2003: First Secretary at the Embassy of Italy in Amman.
From August 21, 2006: First Secretary for Commercial Affairs at the Permanent Representation to the European Union in Brussels.
From August 25, 2009: Assigned to the Office of the Diplomatic Advisor at the Prime Minister Office.
From July 2, 2010: Appointed to the rank of Counsellor.
From July 2, 2013, to July 2, 2015: Diplomatic Advisor to the Minister of Interior and Deputy Prime Minister.
From August 28, 2015, to August 27, 2019: First Counsellor at the Permanent Representation to the European Union in Brussels, responsible for the Office for Relations with the European Parliament.
From August 28, 2019: Member of the Cabinet of the President of the European Parliament, responsible for interinstitutional relations with the Council.
From September 2, 2021: First Counsellor at the Permanent Representation to the European Union in Brussels, responsible for the Office for Relations with the European Parliament and the Press Office.
From December 2, 2022: Diplomatic Advisor to the Minister for European Affairs, the South, Cohesion Policies, and the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP).
June 13, 2023: Head of Department for European Affairs at the Prime Minister Office.
December 2, 2024: Member of the Cabinet of the Executive Vice President of the European Commission for Cohesion and Reforms.
In January 2024 he is appointed Minister Plenipotentiary.
February 5, 2025: Deputy Permanent Representative and Ambassador to the Permanent Representation of Italy to the European Union.
Awarded the honour of:
“Cavaliere” dell’Ordine al Merito della Repubblica italiana, 2012
The Representative to COPS, Ambassador Andrea Orizio
Born in Brescia (Italy) on the 25th of January, 1967.
After graduating in Law from the University of Milan in 1991, he attended post-graduate specialization courses/Masters at ISPI (Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale) in Milan, SIOI (Società Italiana per l’Organizzazione Internazionale) in Rome, ENA (Ecole Nationale d’Administration) Paris, and joined the Italian Diplomatic Service in 1992.
From 1992 to 1993 he was Deputy Head of the Africa Desk (Economic Affairs) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, after which he served at the Office of the Defence Minister’s Diplomatic Counsellor from 1993 to 1994, followed by the Unit for Armaments Authorization and Control in 1994-1995.
From 1995 to 2000 Head of the Economic Section (Deputy Head of Mission in 1996-1997) at the Italian Embassy in Prague, and from 2000 to 2002 Deputy Head of Mission and Counsellor at the Italian Embassy in Zagreb, where he was also NATO Croatia Contact Point Officer.
From 2002 to 2004 Deputy Head and from 2004 to 2005 ead of the Western Balkans Department (DG Europe) at the Foreign Affairs’ Ministry in Rome. From 2005 to 2008 First Counsellor at the Italian Permanent Delegation to NATO, in Brussels, in charge of issues relating to the Mediterranean Dialogue, the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative, Middle East, NATO’s Partnerships and Western Balkans, NATO-Ukraine, NATO-Georgia, NATO’s enlargement (Albania and Croatia accession), Operation Active Endeavour, and NATO-EU matters. NATO Political
Committee’s Member.
From 2008 to 2013, Minister Counsellor and Deputy Head of Mission at the Italian Embassy in Cairo. At the rising of the “Egyptian Revolution”, on the 25th January 2011, he was Chargé d’Affaires a.i. and managed a 130 staff Embassy in emergency conditions. Head of the Anti-Terrorism and Global Threats Unit at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Political Affairs), in Rome, from 2013 to 2014.
From 2014 to 2016, Balkans and Adriatic Director (DG European Union) at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International ooperation, as well as National Coordinator of the Central European Initiative, EU Macroregional Strategies EUSAIR and EUSALP, Western Balkans’ Process.
From 2016 to 2020, Ambassador/Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia (150 multinational staff and 10 million euros yearly budget), appointed at the end of an international selection.
Back to the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in 2020, he was Head of Central and Northern Europe Division (DG Europe), and Deputy Director for European Countries. In 2021-2023, he was Deputy Director for European Countries (DG Europe and Trade Policy) and Coordinator for EFTA Countries and UK at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. In 2022-2023, he was also “Special Ambassador” and Europe Coordinator for Rome EXPO 2030 candidacy.
Since March 2023, he is Ambassador/Permanent Representative of Italy to the EU Political and Security Committee.
Languages: Italian mother tongue, fluent English and French, some knowledge of Czech, Serbian, Croatian and Arabic.
Married, one son and one daughter.
“Cavaliere Ufficiale” of the “Ordine al Merito della Repubblica”, Member of the International Institute of Humanitarian Law
Courtesy Translation