FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:   Elissa Ruffino (NIAF) 202/939-3106 or elissa@niaf.org

Attribute to Joseph V. Del Raso, Esq., National Italian American Foundation President (NIAF)

“On behalf of the National Italian American Foundation’s Board of Directors, we welcome the appointment of Claudio Bisogniero to the post of Ambassador of the Republic of Italy to the United States.

The Foundation looks forward to working with Ambassador Bisogniero and to enhancing the already outstanding relationship between the United States and Italy. The NIAF has enjoyed a close working relationship with the former Ambassador Giulio Terzi di Sant’Agata, who now serves as Italy’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, and we look forward to continuing that relationship with the new ambassador.

His experience, most recently as the NATO Deputy Secretary General, First Secretary for the Economic and Commercial Affairs at the Embassy of Italy in Beijing, as well as Counsellor at the permanent Mission of Italy to NATO in Brussels, is a testament to his skills as a world-class diplomat.

Ambassador Bisogniero is expected to take his post on February 6, 2012, in Washington, D.C. Yesterday, January 18, 2012, President Barack Obama received the credentials from foreign ambassadors recently posted in Washington, D.C., during a traditional ceremony at The White House. Ambassador Bisogniero was joined by Carlo Maria Vigano, the newly appointed Apostolic Nuncio to The Holy See.”

Washington, D.C. 1/19/12