Giuseppina Zarra, ambassador of Italy to Bulgaria
Image source: Youtube video screenshot (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SwndC0D_mM)
Giuseppina Zarra: “Ensuring equal opportunities is a duty and an appropriate and necessary commitment to better serve our country”
On January 5, 2021, Giuseppina Zarrain full pandemic, he had assumed his duties at the embassy in Sofia as new ambassador of Italy to Bulgaria. She was born in Salerno and graduated in Political Science in Urbino, later she attended the specialization school of the Italian Society for the International Organization (Sioi) before passing the diplomatic competition in 1991. she La Bulgaria it was his first foreign destination, from 1994 to 1998.
The day of the settlement in 2021 these are his words: “It is a great emotion for me to return today here in Bulgaria where I took my first steps in diplomatic career over twenty years ago. He will be great honor for me to represent, defend and promote the interests of Italy and Italians in Bulgaria. And to further increase the collaboration and deep friendship that historically bind the two countries “.
The interview with Eurocommunication to Giuseppina Zarra, ambassador of Italy to Bulgaria
Does the job of the ambassador have that extra touch when you are also a woman? What does diplomacy mean for you today?
“I firmly believe in the the need to ensure equal opportunities for women in all careers. In diplomacy in recent years there has been a great commitment on the part of the administration and in particular of the current minister, for promoting women’s careers and combine family and work commitment. It is definitely one demanding career, which demands a lot from private and public life, especially when you are abroad but also when you are in Rome. We work hard, we don’t spare ourselves from a personal point of view but we also do a great team work. We often give so much of our private life to our career “.
“Ensuring equal opportunities is a duty and an appropriate commitment and necessary to better serve our country. What does it mean then to be a woman in diplomacy? It also means bringing a different negotiation capacity and sensitivity, the result of a different experience and perspective that can enrich and help resolve difficulties from a different angle “.
2019 celebrated the 140th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Italy and Bulgaria. The excellent relations between the two countries are characterized by a particular friendship and closeness, made more solid also by intense commercial relations and by the common belonging to the European Union and NATO. The pandemic seems to have changed the outlook on society. On the World. And, of course, on institutions and the state. In 2022, after two years of pandemic, what has changed in relations between the two countries?
“Italy and Bulgaria have always enjoyed excellent political relations, economic and cultural. Which have been enriched and further articulated after Bulgaria’s entry into the European Union and NATO. I have been in Bulgaria from ’94 to ’98 as the first office abroad and returning to it after 22 years I was able to verify the great change that has occurred: thanks to these two events we can say that Bulgaria she is once again part of the great European family “.
“As for my arrival, in full pandemicstarting a diplomatic mission it was not the simplest because this profession, especially when it is bilateral, is primarily based on the ability to create a network of contacts in order to better understand the country and promote bilateral relations limited by the restrictions in force. Now, with the phasing out of measures, we are quickly recovering the level of previous relationships. In particular with regard to commercial and cultural exchange we are starting to promote live events and not just online. For example, Italian language courses are making a comeback “.
“In fact, Italian is of great interest to the Bulgarian population, not only for the culture and heritage they convey, but also for all that Italy represents. From a purely political point of view, after the uncertainty due to the succession of three elections in Bulgaria in a year, there is a new government, which took office in mid-December, with an ambitious program and a great desire to work. I see great enthusiasm “.
Culture is a privileged ground for cooperation between Italy and Bulgaria, also on the basis of the common important artistic and architectural heritage. In 2019 the two cities of Matera and Plovdiv were twinned as European Capitals of Culture. Bilateral relations are very lively and intense with many events and cultural exchanges such that in these days she inaugurated the exhibition “Dante’s precious journey. The Divine Comedy in the jewels of Percossi Papi “. Can you tell us about the project and its exegesis? Why did you beat papi?
“I know Diego Percossi Papi for many years, thanks to two Bulgarian / Italian friends who lived in Rome. Diego is a multifaceted personality, a man of classical and Renaissance culture, a great source of inspiration. His jewels are born from a cultural or literary inspiration, from visions or travel memories, and he has always been an artist of great charm. I used to knock on the windows of his atelier on Saturday mornings in Rome, during my walks through the historic center. He invited me to come in to show me the designs of his jewels. ”
“On one of these occasions, a few years ago, he showed me some drawings and told me that in view of the celebrations for the 700 years from the death Of Dante in 2021, he was thinking of creating a jewelry path inspired by some steps ofto Divine Comedy. He showed me a first sketch of Charon’s eyes and said he was thinking of doing this experience with a private museum in San Francisco. Then with the pandemic everything came to a halt, including the project, and contacts with its foreign partner ran aground “.
“When I got in Bulgaria at the beginning of 2021, this project immediately came to mind. The National Gallery of Sofia immediately joined with great interest. We initially agreed to present it in November, in the hypothesis of an overcoming of the pandemic after the summer. Unfortunately this was not the case, and it would not have been worthwhile to organize an exhibition of such beauty and such commitment with limited numbers and stringent restrictions, it would not have been worth it. We therefore decided, with the National Gallery of Sofia, to move it to March and make it coincide with two important dates for the promotion of Italian culture: March 23, that is the Italian Design Day, and March 25, Dante’s Day “.
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