Two Vantage Points, One Direction

"The meeting was friendly, pragmatic and forward-looking – exactly the tone one would expect when two governments that share solid bilateral foundations begin a new chapter," Ambassador Giuseppe Scognamiglio tells Diplomacy & Trade, reflecting on the encounter in Rome between then Hungarian Prime Minister-elect Péter Magyar and Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni that followed Hungary's April elections.

The Ambassador reads the statement issued by Palazzo Chigi as a deliberate signal: continuity of relations, paired with a willingness to deepen practical cooperation on European and international questions. Four areas, he says, stand out as the most promising ground for alignment. The first is migration management – stronger protection of the EU's external borders and more effective partnerships with countries of origin and transit. The second is European industrial competitiveness, which he calls "existential for both economies" given their shared manufacturing base. The third is security and defense, pursued within NATO and through emerging European frameworks. And the fourth is the Western Balkans, where Rome and Budapest share a conviction, the Ambassador puts plainly: "Enlargement is not a political gesture, it is an investment in Europe's long-term stability."

Building coalitions in Brussels
The real value of the Italian-Hungarian partnership, Ambassador Scognamiglio argues, lies in combining two complementary vantage points. Italy brings decades of experience in the Mediterranean, the Adriatic and South-Eastern Europe; Hungary brings its Central European position and deep engagement with the Balkans. "Together, they can build broader coalitions in Brussels," he says.
On enlargement, the message is unambiguous – the Western Balkans belong to the European family, with direct consequences for security, migration and economic connectivity across the Adriatic.
On competitiveness, the Ambassador describes a practical agenda: a more flexible European industrial policy, lighter administrative burdens, stronger support for SMEs, and energy frameworks that protect manufacturing. Automotive, machinery, pharmaceuticals, defense and advanced logistics are central to both economies, he notes, and coordinated positions on these files "can produce real results."

Security on two fronts
The Mediterranean and the Balkan route may look like separate security spaces, the Ambassador observes, but they are deeply connected. "Instability in the Mediterranean feeds migration pressure across Central Europe; the security of the Western Balkans is a European concern, not just a regional one."
Practical cooperation on migration, he says, will focus on reinforcing the EU's external borders, improving coordination with Frontex and Europol, acting against smuggling networks, and building sustainable partnerships with countries of origin and transit. Italy's own model – combining border management with development cooperation and investment – has produced results that, in his view, Hungary can help champion at European level. Defense offers a parallel opening: Italy holds one of Europe's most advanced defense industries, while Hungary is investing heavily in military modernization, creating room for industrial partnerships, joint procurement and technology cooperation, alongside work on cyber resilience, critical infrastructure and energy security.

A structural economic relationship
With bilateral trade reaching EUR 13.5 billion in 2024, the Ambassador is confident the economic relationship is "structural." Italy is Hungary's fourth export destination and eighth supplier, and Italian companies are drawn by the country's geographic position, its industrial density and its role as a logistics platform for Central and Eastern Europe.
Traditional strengths – manufacturing, machinery, automotive components, food and beverages, professional services – remain solid, but the Ambassador sees the most interesting opportunities shifting toward innovation-intensive sectors: sustainable agrifood technologies, the circular economy, life sciences and pharmaceuticals, renewable energy and smart grids, the space economy and defense. Hungary's automotive ecosystem alone – roughly 30% of industrial production, with more than 600 companies in the supply chain – creates substantial openings for Italian suppliers and engineering firms. One of his priorities, he adds, is to make better known the fields where Italy holds European or world leadership, "from packaging machinery to yacht building, from specialist pharmaceuticals to industrial automation."
The prevailing mood among the more than 2,500 Italian companies operating permanently in Hungary is, he says, "one of cautious confidence." What they consistently ask for is predictability, transparent regulation and a stable European backdrop — and the recent evolution in relations between Budapest and Brussels, together with the release of EU funds, may open new opportunities. The Embassy supports them through the integrated Sistema Italia network, working alongside ITA, the Italian Chamber of Commerce, Confindustria, SACE and SIMEST.

Energy and connectivity
Energy security today, the Ambassador stresses, "is about diversification, infrastructure and industrial competitiveness – not simply supply." Italy is increasingly a Mediterranean energy gateway linked to North Africa and global LNG routes; Hungary is a Central European hub that needs stable, cost-competitive access. North-south corridors – gas infrastructure, electricity interconnections, logistics networks across the Adriatic, the Balkans and Central Europe – are therefore strategic. The Adria Port project in Trieste, he says, is emblematic, strengthening Hungary's maritime access while reinforcing Trieste's role as a gateway. He also points to the handover of the Transport Research Arena from Budapest 2026 to Milan 2028 as a sign of how naturally the two countries connect on transport and mobility innovation. Above all, he insists, the energy transition "cannot be pursued at the cost of Europe's industrial base."

Culture, the longest bridge
Culture, for Ambassador Scognamiglio, is "among the most powerful instruments of diplomacy – and one of the most enduring." Nearly ninety years on, the Italian Cultural Institute in Budapest stages around 120 events a year. Cinema remains a highlight, with MittelCinemaFest reaching its 24th edition in November, while exhibitions such as Dolce Vita. Impressions of Italy in Two Centuries of Hungarian Art at the Hungarian National Gallery show how deeply Italy lives in the Hungarian imagination. A major Italian exhibition is planned for 2027.
Academic exchange, he believes, builds the human capital of future relations, with particular promise in design, architecture, engineering and life sciences – and language at the center of it all: "Every student who learns Italian becomes a potential bridge between our two countries." Tourism, meanwhile, is rebounding strongly, and the priority is diversification – drawing Hungarians toward Piemonte and Campania, and Italians beyond Budapest to the spa towns, wine regions and Lake Balaton.

An ordinary evening, an extraordinary concert
What has moved him most since arriving, the Ambassador confides, is music. He knew the great names – Liszt, Bartók, Kodály, Ligeti, Kurtág – before he came. "But living in Budapest, one understands that music here is not a glorious tradition preserved in concert halls. It is part of everyday life." It is the city's particular combination he treasures: "a city where an extraordinary concert can happen on an ordinary evening." For an Italian, he says, that brings a deeply familiar conviction – that culture and beauty are "not decorations of life, but among its deepest forms."