Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Mary Hakobyan met with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Italy to Ukraine Pier Francesco Zazo. They discussed further deepening of cooperation within the competence of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, strengthening of the Italian partners' assistance in building the capacities of the units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs system currently involved in both the civilian security sector and the Ukrainian Defense Forces.

Expressing gratitude for the consistent support of the Government and people of Italy in this difficult time for Ukraine, Mary Hakobian noted the importance of the recent visit to Kyiv of the Minister of Enterprises and Made in Italy, Senator Adolfo Urso, who, among other things, announced the preparation of a conference on the restoration of Ukraine, scheduled for March 2023 in Italy.

In this context, Mary Hakobian focused on the priority needs to rebuild and restore the infrastructure of the Ministry of Internal Affairs system destroyed by the war, including material and technical damage to the regional units of the National Police, the State Emergency Service and the State Tax Service of Ukraine.

The parties also focused on the humanitarian demining of large areas of Ukrainian territory contaminated with explosive ordnance and the Italian Government's declared intention to allocate EUR 2 million to strengthen the capabilities of the pyrotechnic units of the SES of Ukraine. The Deputy Minister expressed her hope for further support from Italy in solving demining tasks.

The parties agreed to actively promote further cooperation between the SES of Ukraine and the Civil Protection Department under the Presidency of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Italy.