Farnesina announces appointment of new Italian ambassadors

Rome - The Farnesina announced the appointment of new ambassadors, following the deliberation by the Council of Ministers, to the governments of Belgium, Sweden and Turkmenistan. Ms Elena Basile, Ambassador to Belgium, was born in Naples on 26 December 1959 and achieved her degree in Political Sciences at the Istituto Orientale in 1982.

In 1985, Ms Basile began her diplomatic career working at the General Directorate for Cultural Relations. Later she was appointed First Secretary for trade at Tananarive and, subsequently, Consul Adjunct in Toronto. When Ms Basile returned to Rome, she worked at the General Directorate for Economic Affairs focusing on environmental issues. In 1999, Ms Basile was named First Counsellor to the Italian Embassy in Budapest, and in 2003, she was appointed to Lisbon with the same mandate. In 2008, she became head of the OECD section for the Directorate General for Political Affairs and Security. In 2010, Ms Basile was appointed head of the Unit for North America of the same Directorate General. In the past few years, Ms Basile worked on several United Nations dossiers. In 2013, she was appointed the Ambassador of Italy in Stockholm, where she will be succeeded by Mario Cospito.

Mr Cospito was born in Policoro (Matera) on 1 August, 1959. He obtained his degree in Political Science at the University of Pisa and, after attending a course at Cesare Alfieri Institution in Florence, he entered the diplomatic world in 1985. He was the Ambassador to Bucharest from 2008 to 2013. When in Rome, Mr Cospito has specialised on economic and commercial issues.

Mr Diego Ungaro obtained his degree in Political Science from Rome's Sapienza University in 1981. He entered the field of diplomacy in 1986 and has served appointments as the Ambassador to Maputo (Mozambique), Moscow (Russian Federation) and Vienna (Ustria). He was also Deputy Chief of Mission in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) and Chief of Mission in San Jose de Costa Rica. Since 2013, Mr Ungaro has been the head of the Unit for North America (United States and Canada).