National Defence Minister Angel Tilvar participated in the ceremony celebrating Italy’s National Unity and Armed Forces Day, Italy’s Embassy in Bucharest informed, according to Agerpres.

The event took place in a small circle format, with several guests and without public, at the Ghencea Italian Cemetery in Bucharest, according to a press release issued by the diplomatic mission.

Italy’s Ambassador Alfredo Maria Durante Mangoni and Defence Military Attache Ivano Antonio Romano laid wreaths of flowers at the monuments of Italian and Romanian heroes, in order to commemorate all the servicemen who sacrificed themselves in Italy and abroad, in times of war and peace.

The vast majority of them are heroes who fell in line of duty during the First World War, belonging to the Italian Division, which, being part of the Allied Army of French General D’Espery, participated in the offensive on the Macedonian front in September 1918, and heroes who fell in line of duty during the World War II, who lost their lives while moving from and to the Russian front.

„We owe respect to those who sacrificed themselves for their motherland. Our heroes, fallen in battle, sacrificed their lives for our nations, thus becoming legends. 1,750 of the Italian soldiers who fell in both world wars on the territory of our country have their eternal sleep here, in the heart of the Romanian capital, alongside the Romanian heroes,” Minister Angel Tilvar stated, according to a National Defence Ministry (MApN) press release.

In his speech, the Romanian Minister also mentioned the current security situation, caused by the war waged by the Russian Federation against Ukraine, which „represents a flagrant violation of the international law.”

„Romania, alongside Italy and the entire world, condemned in the strongest terms Russia’s unjustified and brutal aggression against Ukraine and supports, together with NATO, the European Union and the international community, Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, within its internationally recognized borders,” Tilvar showed.

Agerpres