“I think I can say without being mistaken that I am the first Ambassador sent by Monaco to Italy”
Appointed ambassador last August, Anne Eastwood details her career and her missions on the occasion of her new appointment.
It was in the heart of the Italian capital, during an official ceremony held at the Palazzo del Quirinale on November 14, thatAnne Eastwood presented his credentials to the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella. After several years at the head of the High Commission for the Protection of Rights, Freedoms and Mediation, Anne Eastwood is now Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Principality of Monaco in Italy.
From her rich legal and political background to her new mission and ambitions, Anne Eastwood agreed to answer our questions.
Could you describe your professional background in a few words?
Holder of a dual training in management and law, I obtained my career in France in the very demanding environment of Parisian business law firms. I practiced this profession of lawyer with passion for eight years, but my taste for public affairs and my need to feel useful to the general interest finally pushed me to return to Monaco to put this experience, acquired at abroad, in the service of my country.
I first joined the National Council as Head of Legal Affairs in 2003, before moving on to the more political role of Chief of Staff to the President when it was created in 2007 by Stéphane Valeri. I then moved to the Government as Director General of the Department of Social Affairs and Health, before being appointed in 2013 to the Minister of State.
With my appointment, our diplomatic corps now has a majority of women
My career in the Monegasque senior civil service has allowed me to acquire a transversal vision of the functioning of our institutions, which I know well for having practiced them from the inside. He also taught me to know how to constantly train and reinvent myself. This was obviously the case when the Sovereign Prince decided to entrust me eight years ago with setting up the institution of the High Commissioner for the Protection of Rights in the Principality.
This is still the case for three months in this new role of Ambassador. I like to innovate and challenge myself in my professional life, especially since I often find myself in the position of being the first woman to hold certain positions. Even today, I believe I can say without being mistaken that I am the first Ambassador sent by Monaco to Italy, even if this function has tended to be feminized everywhere in recent years, including in our country. With my appointment, our diplomatic corps now has a majority of women (7 out of 13).
How did your appointment as ambassador go? How did you feel when you were appointed to this position? How do you apprehend it?
During the last years of my mandate as High Commissioner, I had on several occasions had the opportunity to express to the Sovereign Prince my interest in international work. This is an aspect that I have developed proactively in my previous functions and in which I thrive a lot. I appreciate the contact with our foreign counterparts, which I have always found deeply enriching and stimulating, and the fact of being able to contribute through dialogue to making our realities better known and radiating the Principality’s tremendous potential.
Italy has always held a special place in my heart.
The role of an Ambassador is precisely to be a promoter and facilitator of these good relations of cooperation between the States and this corresponded perfectly to my wish to be able to do even more for Monaco in this regard. I was lucky that an opportunity arose in Italy when I rejoined the Administration after two consecutive mandates in independent functions in the service of the Principality and its constituents.
The Sovereign, who was considering someone to take over from Robert Fillon as his retirement approached, remembered our discussions and did me the honor of offering me the job. I accepted it with all the more enthusiasm as it was about Rome and this city has always fascinated me. I also saw it as an opportunity to put myself at the service of an Italo-Monegasque relationship that I have carried within me since my birth, since, as my name does not indicate, my origins are partly Piedmontese and that Italy has always held a special place in my heart.
Do you have projects, or a particular roadmap, that you would like to follow?
Few people know this, but Italy is our main trading partner, in addition to the important employment pool that the province of Imperia represents for Monaco and which the recent agreement on telework will further develop. We maintain close economic and cultural ties with our Italian neighbor and my first mission will obviously be to work to strengthen them even further, within the more general framework of the attractiveness policy defined by the Prince’s Government.
Beyond our privileged relations with Liguria, the recent visits of the Sovereign Prince to southern Italy have provided tremendous impetus by enabling joint projects to be launched in these regions further from our borders. Italy is rich in the diversity of its territories and there are many opportunities to capitalize on.
I intend to do this eventually and assign new objectives to the network of “Destination Ambassadors” set up under my predecessor in conjunction with the Monaco Economic Board and the Tourist and Convention Authority, so that it becomes a real tool facilitate contacts and boost relations between economic players, in all sectors of interest to the Principality.
Nor do I forget the Italian community in Monaco, which already contributes to the country’s prosperity and with which I wish to develop ties in order to be able to take advantage of their in-depth knowledge of both Italian realities and the Monegasque fabric, within the framework projects that will be submitted to me.
Monaco is a small country that exercises great influence in the Euro-Mediterranean area and I am proud to represent it in this geographical area that offers so many synergies and opportunities.
With regard to the files submitted, my objective will of course be to provide the best possible support to the Prince’s Government in its dialogue with the Italian authorities to advance matters of importance to Monaco, such as, for example, in terms of social security or in the field port and transport infrastructure.
I have already had the opportunity to address a number of these issues with President Mattarella during the interview he recently granted me on the occasion of my accreditation and I can testify to his willingness to listening and the constructive frame of mind in which he raised these issues. The environment is another area in which I intend to continue to act as Ambassador, following on from the actions I initiated internationally for future generations when I was High Commissioner. I am also happy to have been recently appointed Vice-President of the Italian branch of the Prince Albert II Foundation to be able to act in this capacity also in this regard.
Finally, I would like to participate much more in our Embassy in monitoring the activities of international organizations based in Rome and of which the Principality is a member, in particular the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Food Program Global (WFP). This multilateral component had been somewhat pushed into the background for two years due to the difficulties linked to the pandemic.
However, with the global crisis now raging and food insecurity which has increased everywhere and particularly in the most vulnerable countries, concerted action by States within the framework of these organizations has become essential to help to the people who suffer the most from poverty and hunger, and who are also the first victims of climate change.
Under the aegis of the Department of External Relations, the Department of International Cooperation takes resolute action to ensure that Monaco participates in its fair measure in this work of solidarity. I also hope that we will be able to support these efforts in the best possible way, by making a real contribution in these forums and by forging constructive cooperation with the other delegations, at the forefront including those of Italy and France, but those of the Holy See, particularly used on these questions, and of the other small States.
Monaco and Italy maintain very close ties, both by geographical proximity and by their common history. Do you consider that being Monaco’s ambassador in Italy has a special character, compared to other countries?
Along with France, Italy is the only country to have diplomatic representation on Monegasque territory. It is significant of the importance that each State attaches to its relations with the other and from this point of view, I am obviously very happy to have been appointed to Rome to pursue and intensify our privileged privileges of friendship and Cooperation. As I said, there are many projects underway and many opportunities to strengthen partnerships and exchanges. I am regularly asked in this direction.
I am also lucky to be able to rely in Italy on a very experienced and dynamic consular network, which brings me its knowledge of the field and its ideas every day. It is very motivating and my priority will of course be to meet these promising prospects. But the Embassy’s portfolio also includes other countries and my appointment is pending as non-resident Ambassador to Croatia, Romania and Slovenia, as well as to Malta and San Marino. Each payroll has its own specificities and challenges for the Principality and deserves special attention.
I will make sure to be present with everyone in the interest of strengthening our relations. Monaco is a small country that exercises great influence in the Euro-Mediterranean area and I am proud to represent it in this geographical area that offers so many synergies and opportunities.