Inauguration of Villa Europa in Rome – 25 March 2025

26.03.2025 Press and information team of the Delegation to the Holy See, the Sovereign Order of Malta, the UN Organisations in Rome and the Republic of San Marino

Inauguration of Villa Europa, the new premises of the EU Delegation in Rome

With six different accreditations and working together with three different diplomatic corps, the EU Delegation in Rome has a quite demanding bilateral & multilateral mission. On 25 March 2025, on the anniversary of the signing of the Treaties of Rome, we now officially inaugurated Villa Europa, our new EU Embassy, together with the diplomatic community. Right across the street from FAO, Villa Europa will allow us to strengthen our diplomatic outreach & facilitate EU27 coordination, following the EU foreign policy lead of Kaja Kallas.

The EU Ambassador Martin Selmayr and his team were proud to welcome at this solemn occasion the Vice-President of the European Parliament Antonella Sberna and three Members of the European Commission: EU Commissioner Jozef Sikela, Responsible for International Partnerships, EU Commissioner Christophe Hansen, Responsible for Agriculture and Food and EU Commissioner Magnus Brunner, Responsible for Internal Affairs and Migration.

We were grateful that Archbishop Paul Gallagher, San Marino‘s Foreign Minister Luca Beccari, IFAD President Alvaro Lario as well as the leadership of FAO & WFP delivered opening remarks and that His Highness John T. Dunlap, Grand Master of the Sovereign Order of Malta, honoured us with his presence. In times of high geopolitical uncertainty, the EU is and remains committed to diplomacy, international partnerships, multilateralism and the rules-based international order with the United Nations at its core.

Our diplomatic work in Rome focusses on fighting hunger and poverty in the world, promoting sustainable agrifood systems, one health, food security and the right to food, addressing biodiversity loss and climate change, and strengthening international cooperation & partnerships as well as interreligious dialogue. Ambassador Selmayr warmly thanked the EU Commissioners Jozef Sikela, Christophe Hansen and Magnus Brunner and their teams for the good cooperation and support.

The EU StandsWithUkraine. At the occasion of the inauguration of Villa Europa, we reaffirmed our unwavering commitment to support Ukraine as long as needed. EU Ambassador Martin Selmayr expressed his hope that in the not too distant future, the mission of Villa Europa will also include the diplomatic representation of Ukraine, which belongs to the European family. It was very moving to listen to the Ukrainian children choir LIBERTON Santa Sofia singing our European anthem.

In all jobs, you always stand on the strong shoulders of your predecessors. EU Ambassador Martin Selmayr expressed his gratitude to the seven predecessors as EU Ambassadors in Rome who built up the EU‘s diplomatic presence in Rome over the years, including Yves Gazzo, who attended the inauguration of Villa Europa. Ambassador Selmayr sincerely thanked his direct predecessor Alexandra Valkenburg who spent a lot of time and energy on identifying a good location for our new office.

Auguri Villa Europa!