Antonio Tajani is Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, a position he has held since October 2022. He is also Secretary of Forza Italia, one of Italy’s leading political parties.

A lawyer by training, Mr Tajani graduated from the University of Rome “La Sapienza” and served as an officer in the Italian Air Force before embarking on a distinguished career in journalism. He worked as a parliamentary correspondent, presenter for RAI’s national news service and senior editor of Il Giornale, including assignments as a special correspondent in Lebanon, the Soviet Union and Somalia.

A co-founder of Forza Italia, he served as spokesperson to Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi before being elected to the European Parliament in 1994. Over more than two decades in European public service, he held a number of senior leadership positions, including Vice-President of the European Commission, European Commissioner for Transport, European Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship, Vice-President of the European Parliament and, from 2017 to 2019, President of the European Parliament.

As Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Mr Tajani plays a leading role in shaping Italian and European foreign policy, international economic relations and diplomatic engagement on major global challenges.