Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has sent a letter of congratulations to Giuseppe Conte, following the renewal of his mandate as Prime Minister of Italy.

Bertalan Havasi, the Deputy State Secretary heading the Press Office of the Prime Minister, said that in his letter Mr. Orbán wrote: “I salute you as a Prime Minister of Italy who has recently proved his commitment to the development of relations between our two countries. I trust that, as in our joint efforts to date, in the future we will also be able to rely on you in the further enhancement of Hungarian-Italian cooperation and the creation of a competitive Europe comprising strong nations.” He reassured his Italian counterpart that the Hungarian government is ready to continue their joint work.

The Prime Minister concluded his letter of congratulations thus: “I wish you good health and much success in the continuation of your responsible work.”

In Italy on Thursday the government led by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte swore their official oaths of office. The new government is a coalition between the Five Star Movement (M5S) and the centre-left Democratic Party (PD).

The previous government, which was a coalition between M5S and the right-wing party La Lega, was also led by Mr. Conte, from June 2018. The alliance between the two parties broke up after La Lega’s leader Matteo Salvini terminated the coalition in the hope that it would result in an early election which would lead to him becoming prime minister. Mr. Salvini’s decision was followed by a domestic political crisis that lasted for several weeks.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister/MTI)