The traditional ceremony for Unity and Armed Forces Day was held yesterday at the Embassy in Berlin. High-ranking German civilian and military officials, representatives of the international community in Germany, and representatives of the Italian community attended the event hosted in the evening by Ambassador Armando Varricchio together with the Defence Attaché, Gen. B.A. Paolo Tarantino.
"The women and men in uniform are called upon every day to ensure an invaluable contribution to peacekeeping and to defuse the logic of violence that is never inevitable. They can do this by working on their preparedness, their ability to respond credibly and rapidly to threats from outside. They can do this by continuing to invest in 'mil-to-mil' dialogue, which has already been a very useful tool in the past for preserving and nurturing mutual trust and defusing dangerous escalatory spirals. They can do so by contributing to international missions, which are now more indispensable than ever in the attempt to preserve peace in so many, too many war-torn areas and to protect civilian populations,' Ambassador Varricchio told the military representatives present, also stressing how the current phase is 'marked by very important developments in the bilateral relationship between Italy and Germany, starting with the State Visit of President Mattarella at the end of September.
In the morning, Ambassador Varricchio also honoured the Italian fallen soldiers by laying a wreath at the altar of the Italian Military Cemetery at Zehlendorf Cemetery in the presence of the municipal authorities, a delegation of representatives of the Italian community and the Italian Catholic community.
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