Today, Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Benedetto Della Vedova opened the Italian Consulate in Manchester in a ceremony that was attended by numerous representatives of the British authorities along with representatives of the Italian community in the United Kingdom.
In addition to the Italian Ambassador in London, Raffaele Trombetta, the Italian Consul, Matteo Corradini and the Director General for Italians Abroad and Migration Policies, Luigi Maria Vignali, Under-Secretary Della Vedova illustrated how the consular office in Manchester – the third biggest after Edinburgh and London – would make contact with fellow Italians living in the North of England easier and more direct. At the same time, this official presence in the middle of Great Britain will encourage interactions between the Italian and British players and increase cultural, commercial, academic and scientific links which are already excellent.
Later, when he met representatives of fellow Italians, Under-Secretary Della Vedova reiterated the commitment to support Italians in the United Kingdom in the wake of Brexit, while Director General Vignali gave recognition to the unceasing work carried out in recent years by the Farnesina and the consul network to help improve the level of services offered in the country to the almost 500,000 Italians registered with the Registry of Italians Resident Abroad (A.I.R.E.).
The opening was also attended by Kevin Foster, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Safe and Legal Migration in the Home Office, with whom Under-Secretary Della Vedova had a bilateral meeting in which they discussed the importance of protecting the rights of Italian citizens in the United Kingdom in accordance with the Withdrawal Agreement, the need to continue to facilitate the mobility of the respective students and researchers and the common effort to provide sanctuary to Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion.
The Manchester Consulate covers an area from Birmingham to the Scottish border plus the Isle of Man, a district that now counts a little less than 110,000 people distributed around the entire territory and registered with A.I.R.E. The consular offices from Liverpool, Birmingham, Newcastle upon Tyne, Nottingham and Hull will all fall under its jurisdiction.
