Italy is still waiting for the US ambassador, ‘arrival in spring not excluded’

Still no certainty about the announcement of the new US ambassador in Rome. Italy remains at the moment the only large country in the European Union for which the White House, after the change of administration, has not yet chosen a name. Sources in the State Department interviewed by Adnkronos report that “an arrival in spring is not excluded”, but that “everything could absolutely slip”. The names? At the moment, US sources say, there is no certain indication. After the departure of Lewis Eisenberg, nominated by Donald Trump, to hold the reins of the embassy in via Veneto is the interim charge d’affaires Thomas Smitham, who has distinguished himself, among other things, in the management of US aid to Italy, during the first phase of the pandemic. And yet, after the appointment last October of former Senator Joe Donnelly as ambassador to the Holy See, Rome was expected to be the new ambassador to the Italian Republic by the end of 2021. For the great European capitals, Biden has chosen a poker of women Looking at the list of the great EU countries, some of which have also had to wait a long time for a name, Italy stands out for the absence of a new representative from Washington. For Paris, Joe Biden has chosen Denise Bauer, former ambassador to Belgium, confirmed last December 18 by the Senate. For Berlin, another woman was chosen, Amy Gutmann, former president of the University of Pennsylvania, awaiting senatorial confirmation. It is always a woman who represents the US in Madrid, with Julissa Reynoso Pantaleón, who after the confirmation of the Senate last October, took up her post on 7 January. Remaining in Europe, but outside the EU, another historic US ally still awaiting the name of the new ambassador is the United Kingdom. Even in London, at least according to press rumors, the new ambassador would be a woman, Jane Hartley, former ambassador to France during the Obama administration. The risk for Hartley, still awaiting an official announcement from the White House, as well as for the new ambassador to Rome, is that the appointment could be postponed to 2022, due to the high number of presidential appointments that still have to be approved by the Senate. (by Marco Liconti)