Erbil, 08\/07\/2026 \u2013 During a solemn ceremony organized by the Consulate General of Italy in Erbil, the Italian Ambassador to Iraq, Niccol\u00f2 Fontana, presented His Excellency Nechirvan Barzani, President of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, with the insignia and diploma of Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Star of Italy, the highest rank of the Order.<\/p>\n
The honour was conferred by decree of the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella, upon the proposal of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Antonio Tajani, considering President Barzani’s exceptional contribution to strengthening the relations of friendship and cooperation between Italy, Iraq, and the Kurdistan Region.<\/p>\n
During the opening of the ceremony, the Consul General of Italy in Erbil, Tommaso Sansone, has emphasized that the Order of the Star of Italy, established by Law No. 13 of 3 February 2011, is awarded to personalities who have distinguished themselves in promoting relations of friendship and cooperation between Italy and other countries. During the motivational assignment speech, the Consul General has highlighted President Barzani’s decisive role in consolidating bilateral bonds by encouraging the presence of Italian companies in the Kurdistan Region, supporting the establishment of the Italian diplomatic mission in Erbil which became a Consulate in 2016 and a Consulate General in 2024 and by providing constant support to the activities of the Italian military contingent and Italian archaeological missions operating in the region.<\/p>\n
In his address, Ambassador Niccol\u00f2 Fontana highlighted that the ceremony represented the highest peak of the deep friendship joining Italy, Iraq, and the Kurdistan Region, like their institutions and their peoples.<\/p>\n
“The honour bestowed by President Mattarella,” the Ambassador stated, “recognises the pragmatic leadership of His Excellency Nechirvan Barzani and his unwavering commitment to dialogue and peace throughout decades of service at the highest institutional levels. Deeply attached to Italian culture, President Barzani has consistently supported the development of political relations with Rome, facilitated the work of the Italian military contingent in northern Iraq, promoted economic cooperation with Italian companies, and encouraged the strengthening of cultural cooperation.”<\/p>\n
At the end of the ceremony, after receiving and wearing the insignia of the honor, President Nechirvan Barzani expressed his sincere gratitude to the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella, and to the Italian people for the prestigious recognition.<\/p>\n
“I am deeply honoured to receive today the insignia of Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Star of Italy. This recognition reflects the strong and growing partnership between Italy, Iraq, and the Kurdistan Region, founded on mutual understanding, shared values, and close cooperation. I will continue to work to further strengthen the ties between our peoples in the interest of peace, stability, and prosperity.”<\/p>\n
The ceremony represented a particularly significant moment in the bilateral relations between Italy and the Kurdistan Region, reaffirming the strength of a partnership built over the years through political, economic, cultural, and security cooperation, as well as a shared commitment to promoting dialogue, stability, and development in the region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Erbil, 08\/07\/2026 \u2013 During a solemn ceremony organized by the Consulate General of Italy in Erbil, the Italian Ambassador to Iraq, Niccol\u00f2 Fontana, presented His Excellency Nechirvan Barzani, President of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, with the insignia and diploma of Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Star of Italy, the highest rank […]","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":2383,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"tags":[14,12,11,10,7,5,4],"class_list":["post-2417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-cooperazione-allo-sviluppo","tag-diplomazia-culturale","tag-diplomazia-economica","tag-diplomazia-scientifica","tag-italiani-nel-mondo","tag-politica-estera","tag-unione-europea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/conserbil.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/conserbil.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/conserbil.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conserbil.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conserbil.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2417"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/conserbil.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2417\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2420,"href":"https:\/\/conserbil.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2417\/revisions\/2420"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conserbil.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/conserbil.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conserbil.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}