SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, good afternoon. And we are delighted to be
welcoming the prime minister to the White House this afternoon for his
meetings with President Obama and the foreign minister, who is well
known in Washington, here to the State Department in his new capacity.
The United States and Italy have such a strong friendship and
alliance, and we are working on a full range of important issues from
our common efforts in Afghanistan to our concerns over Syria to, of
course, the economic issues that will be the topic of the conversation
with the President.
But I want to underscore how confident we are in Italy, in Italy’s
future, in the extraordinary commitment that Prime Minister Monti and
his government are bringing to the challenges confronting the Italian
people, and in the Italian people themselves. So it is with great
personal pleasure that I welcome you back, Minister.
FOREIGN MINISTER TERZI: Thank you very much, Secretary. It’s a
great pleasure. It’s an honor to be seen here at State Department. And I
believe that we are going to have a very interesting conversation about
political issues, which are a common concern to both our countries and
where we are involved.
You know, Madam Secretary, that we are particularly engaged in
Mediterranean issues, especially developments in the societies which are
leaning towards, we hope, democratic institutions and which are
reaffirming the sense of the Arab Spring, but we are also concerned
about developments in Syria and Iran. And that is something where we
should have a common purpose and a common understanding on how to
proceed. So I thank you very much.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I look forward to our conversation.
FOREIGN MINISTER TERZI: Thank you.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you all very much.
