4 November 1918 marked the end of the conflict between Italy and the Austro-Hungarian empire in the First World War, and the signing of the Armistice of Villa Giusti completed the unification of Italy that began during the Risorgimento. The Great War was the first conflict in which Italy fought as a united nation.
On the 102nd anniversary of this event, during which we celebrate the unification of Italy and the service, past and present, of Italy’s armed forces, Ambassador Raffaele Trombetta and the defence attaché General Enrico Pederzollii have paid their respects in a video message to Italians in the UK and the representatives of the Italian armed forces posted here.
Ambassador Trombetta noted in the videomessage that as well as being a day of commemoration, 4 November is also an opportunity to look to the future and confront a wide range of challenges. He highlighted that collaboration with international partners is vitally important in this regard. The UK is an important ally to Italy, and the two countries share interests in numerous issues of foreign policy, defence, development cooperation and the environment. Notably, Italy and the UK will collaborate closely on environmental matters when they assume the co-presidency of COP26 in 2021.
(video in Italian with English subtitles)
