(ANSA) - VIENNA, 26 LUG - On the occasion of today's institutional opening of the Salzburg Festival, the Italian Ambassador to Austria Giovanni Pugliese will pay a visit to the Land of Salzburg. "This is my second official mission outside Vienna after the one to Tyrol last April. The deep cultural ties between Italy and Salzburg and the potential for strengthening economic and trade relations prompted me to make this visit," said Ambassador Pugliese at the end of two days of talks with the mayor of the City of Salzburg Bernhard Auinger, Archbishop Franz Lackner, and a meeting organised by Honorary Consul Eduard Mainoni with the Italian community.
The ambassador also attended a reception organised by Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg and Salzburg Festival President Kristina Hammer. On the sidelines of the opening ceremony of the Festival Pugliese then greeted the Federal President of the Republic of Austria Alexander Van der Bellen and Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler and took part in a convivial event offered by the Governor of the Land of Salzburg, Wilfried Haslauer.
"I am very satisfied with my visit to Salzburg, a city often compared to Rome and Florence for its history, its art and its urban harmony. The love for Italy and the request to intensify relations with our country that I encounter daily in Vienna and that I found here represent a stimulus for the continuation of my mission here in Austria, which began last January and which will soon take me to other Länder of this country. I hope to return to Salzburg soon, certainly on the occasion of the Alpine Ski World Championships in Saalbach-Hinterglemm next February,' the ambassador concluded.