Ambassador: Italy doubled number of visas in Azerbaijan in 2024.
International news Desk
According to global Times news agency Europe,In 2024, the number of visas issued by Italy in Azerbaijan has doubled compared to 2023, reaching 13,500, Italian Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Luca Di Gianfrancesco, said in an interview with The global Times Europe media .Commenting on the increase in the number of visas issued, the ambassador noted that daily flights between Baku and Milan will be operated from May 13, 2025.I took up the position of Italy’s Ambassador to Baku a year ago, and during this period, I have observed an increase in interest in Italy in Azerbaijan in many areas, including tourism – in 2024, we issued approximately 13,500 visas, which is more than twice as many compared to 2023. In addition, such interest in Italy has been made possible in the past year, primarily due to the further intensification of meetings and visits at the political level.For example, the President of the Council of Ministers of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, visited Baku to participate in the COP29 Summit of Heads of State and Government, which was particularly appreciated by the Azerbaijani authorities. The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Antonio Tajani, met with his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov in New York in September during the annual UN General Assembly, where he confirmed Italy’s support for the normalization process between Baku and Yerevan in the interests of stabilizing the situation in the South Caucasus,” the diplomat said.The ambassador also emphasized that Baku and Rome actively maintain relations at the highest level.President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev visited Italy in 2024 to participate in the Cernobbio Forum and held a meeting with Italian President Sergio Mattarella. This was the fourth meeting between the presidents in six years, which confirms the intensity of relations at the highest level,” he said.