Your Majesty,
I should first of all like to extend my warmest welcome to you, to your gracious Consort and to all the members of the Royal Family present here today.

Your most welcome State Visit clearly confirms the solidity and depth of friendly relations between Italy and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, a country which has chosen peace as a strategic option and which is an example to all peoples in the region.

You, Your Majesty, are leading your country towards such goals as increased democracy, stronger guarantees of human rights and economic liberalization in a climate more open to the needs of businessmen and entrepreneurs. The world sees Your Majesty and Queen Rania as a young and dynamic couple at once proud of their country's tradition and with their gaze also set on the future.

Deeply-held convictions unite Italy and Jordan: on the role our countries can play in contributing to stability in the Mediterranean, on the vision of peace in the Middle East which - as we were able to verify in our talks today - is widely shared; on the way in which all the actors on the world stage should participate in globalization and contribute to the governance thereof with the aim of achieving sustainable development for all peoples and opening up prospects of increased solidarity between all of the world's regions.

As an Italian and as a European I consider the Mediterranean as an essential element of my country's identity and of Europe's identity.

The future of the Mediterranean depends on the peaceful coexistence of all the peoples of the region and on a dialogue between the three great monotheistic religions which arose and developed in this part of the world.

Italy, together with Jordan, intends to work for a Mediterranean in which all countries, in the respect for their specific cultures and traditions, find a basis for peaceful coexistence and common development in dialogue, in paying attention to the views of others, in religious freedom and in the safeguard of people's rights; in which economic interdependence together with increased trade and contacts between civil societies as well as cultural dynamism, help remove the causes of poverty and keep the perils of radicalism and terrorism at bay.

I am thus sad to see that even the Union for the Mediterranean - established a year ago in order to draw on and reinforce the legacy of the Barcelona Process and turn the Mediterranean into an area of stability and peace - is finding it difficult to make its positive benefits felt because of the difficulties in the Israeli-Palestinian dialogue.

It is strongly to be hoped, indeed it is essential, that direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians resume soon, building on previously-achieved results with the aim of reaching a Final Agreement in which even the thorniest issues under negotiation are resolved fairly and definitively.

Only a peace resting on the principle of "Two States for Two Peoples" can fulfil the legitimate rights of both parties : Israel's right to live in security and be recognized at last by all peoples in the region, and the Palestinians' right to establish a sovereign, independent and economically vital State.

The possibilities opened up by the new US Administration and the efforts of President Obama - recently honoured with the Nobel Peace Prize for his new approach to the principal challenges on the international agenda - give rise to reasonable hopes, and not to uncertain illusions.

The European Union too which - having concluded the arduous process of ratifying the Treaty of Lisbon - will be able to play an increasingly constructive and incisive role in international affairs and in the Region.

There can be no room for inaction or pessimism. Because the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the major causes of instability in the region and is thus one of the principal obstacles to its development. And because the lack of visible and concrete progress towards peace generates mistrust between the parties, making the resumption of dialogue more difficult and threatening to increase anger and frustration, and thus to give rise to new forms of extremism.

Under such circumstances Jordan's role should be considered all the more exemplary. Your country opted for peace in 1994 thanks to the far-sighted vision of your father, the not-to-be-forgotten King Hussein. It was a policy which Your Majesty's courageous and enlightened leadership was able to maintain and consolidate even at the most critical points in Israeli-Palestinian relations.

I am confident that - thanks also to the precious example offered by The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in terms of moderation and tolerance - it will be possible gradually to arrive at a different kind of Middle East, an area capable of overcoming a conflict that has deeply marked its history for more than sixty years, to extend dialogue to the Syrian and Lebanese tracks too, to keep the various flashpoints of tension in other countries under control and to embark on a new chapter.

In that new narrative young people should be allowed to pursue their dreams and live in a world of opportunities far removed from the spectre of war, violence and instability; removed from the risks of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction - and above all nuclear armaments - which international diplomacy should firmly exorcize.

Just as conflict smothered any possibility for growth in the region, so can peace liberate that potential. Many chances have already been lost. What is important is not to lose any more.

As regards Italy, I can assure you, Your Majesty, that this country will continue to spare no efforts in promoting the cause of peace, sustaining the Palestinians' economy and living conditions and working to keep the Mediterranean at the centre of the European Union's attention.

Your Majesty,
The warmth and attention which - I am sure - will be extended to you in all your meetings in Rome and Milan will give you an indication of how much Italy is eager to strengthen its already intense relations of friendship with your People and to participate further in the development of your country with new investments and new forms of economic, trade and industrial collaboration.

Italy intends to press ahead with its own Development Cooperation initiatives in the field of management of water resources, in the development of the private sector and in the area of Public Health. It will continue to assist in the discovery and conservation of Jordan's archaeological treasures; and to increase cultural exchanges and contacts between civil societies. The Exhibit entitled "Jordan: crossroads of peoples and cultures", which we shall be inaugurating together here tomorrow at the Quirinale Palace, shows us how your country is one of the richest in history in the entire Near East and urges us to make every effort to get to know each other better and promote the extraordinary heritage of civilization which Italy and Jordan possess and to keep it alive in our present and future relations.

Thanks to your leadership, Your Majesty, modern Jordan - carrying on the tradition of a glorious dynasty - is today, because of its internal stability and its balance in international policy, a sure point of reference in the complex setting of the Middle East.

With these feelings I raise my glass to your personal well-being, to that of Queen Rania and of the whole Royal Family as well as to the prosperity of our friends the Jordanian People and to the excellent and strong ties between our two countries.