H.E. Mr. Paolo Trichilo, Ambassador of the Italian Republic to the Republic of Croatia, visited the University of Rijeka on Monday, June 6, accompanied by Mrs. Patrizia Ruggiero, Chargé d’affaires at the Consulate General of the Italian Republic to the Republic of Croatia, Rijeka, and Mrs. Ileana Jančić, Consul’s Assistant in Rijeka. The esteemed guests were welcomed by the University of Rijeka Rector, Professor Snježana Prijić-Samaržija, and Vice-Rector for Strategic Projects, Professor Saša Zelenika.
At the beginning of the meeting, Rector Prijić-Samaržija briefly presented the mission and vision of the University of Rijeka, presenting it as a modern and open European university that nurtures internationalization and promotes dialogue with the wider community through scientific diplomacy and exchange with representatives of the diplomatic corps. She pointed out that the University of Rijeka has particularly good cooperation with the geographically closest Italian universities (Trieste, Udine, Padua), but thanks to AARC and UniAdrion membership and numerous Erasmus and bilateral agreements, the cooperation includes more than 50 Italian universities.
Ambassador Trichilo expressed great satisfaction with his visit to Rijeka, pointing out that Rijeka and the Primorje-Gorski kotar County, which have many connections with Italy, represent a very important city and region for Italy. As he says, shared history and geographical proximity are the basis for the quality implementation of future projects. He is especially looking forward to the North Adriatic Hydrogen Valley project, an international project of Croatia, Slovenia, and the Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, whose goal is to establish a framework for cooperation in the development of environmentally friendly technologies of hydrogen production.
Vice-rector Zelenika mentioned that Rijeka has intensively cooperated with Trieste for years – both in the field of culture and in the field of science and education – and this cooperation came to the fore in 2020, when Rijeka was the European Capital of Culture and Trieste the European City of Science. The meeting served as an excellent opportunity to discuss the future of the Department of Italian Studies at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, and all the challenges and plans were presented by the Dean, Professor Aleksandar Mijatović, and the Head of the Department, Professor Corinna Gerbaz-Giuliano.
In a very relaxed and open discussion, they recalled their mutual friend, the late Maurizio Fermeglia, former rector of the University of Trieste. Ambassador Trichilo met him while serving as Ambassador of Italy in Ljubljana from 2016 to 2020, remembering him as a superb scientist and an instrumental person in launching numerous research initiatives.
Considering all the common cultural and historical ties, the Ambassador received the book Fiume Fantastika as a gift, a book created as a result of research into the phenomenon of the city of Rijeka as part of the Rijeka ECOC 2020, while Ambassador presented Madam Rector with his book I diritti dell’uomo, a book on human rights, which he wrote before his diplomatic career, i.e. while he worked as an associate professor at the Human Rights Chair at LUISS (Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli).
Ambassador Trichilo arrived in Croatia in March, and during his stay in Croatia, he will continue to argue for the promotion of good neighborly relations and even better bilateral cooperation between Croatia and Italy.
