A 37-year-old air treaty and access to Monaco’s hospitals for residents of Liguria were among the issues Prince Albert II put on the table on Saturday 3rd October, as Italian President Sergio Mattarella ended the first state visit by an Italian head of state to the Principality with talk of the practical work still to be done.

Friday had belonged to ceremony, with military honours, opera and a state dinner in the Throne Room. Saturday was about substance. After meeting members of Monaco’s Italian community, the President and his daughter, Laura Mattarella, toured the Oceanographic Museum with the Prince. The two heads of state then gave their closing statements, which read less like toasts to shared history and more like a checklist of open files.

Flights and hospital beds

The Prince wasted little time in naming them. “I am thinking, for example, of the air services agreement, which has been under discussion for many years and which will, I hope, soon modernise the bilateral agreement of 1989. And I am thinking of the question of access for residents of the Liguria region to the medical care provided in the Principality,” said Prince Albert II.

Neither issue is new. Both were raised when the Italian-Monegasque Administrative Cooperation Commission met in Monaco on 12th May 2025, according to the Monaco Government. On that occasion the revision of the 1989 air transport agreement was discussed alongside health and social security. The Prince now wants that forum to deliver.

“Beyond these subjects, I hope that we will be able to achieve stronger coordination between our two countries, in particular through the reactivation, in 2025, of the Italian-Monegasque Administrative Cooperation Commission,” he said.

The President was on the same page. “I too would like to recall, as the Prince did, the important work carried out by the joint commission, which has addressed issues of common interest: social security, transport, investment. A cooperation that is also enriched by the cross-border dimension,” said President Mattarella.

Following the money

Mattarella’s most pointed remark concerned financial crime, an area where cooperation has quietly moved up a gear.

“I would also like to express great appreciation for the strengthened cooperation between our countries in combating organised economic and financial crime, with the signing last April of a memorandum of understanding with the Guardia di Finanza. It is another area in which we work together with great effectiveness and great value,” he said.

At the commission’s May 2025 session, both delegations had pledged to swiftly sign a memorandum between Italy’s financial police and Monaco’s police department to improve operational cooperation against crime.

Business without borders

Italy is, with France, one of only two countries to keep a resident embassy in Monaco. The Prince described the commercial ties as “intense and numerous”.

“Italian companies are firmly established in key sectors of our economy. Opening up the use of teleworking has made it easier to hire Italian cross-border workers. And the first Italy–Monaco Business Forum confirmed the vitality of our exchanges, as well as our shared will to encourage innovation, investment and partnerships between our companies,” said Prince Albert.

That forum, held at the Le Méridien Beach Plaza on 13th March, drew representatives of more than 200 Italian and Monegasque companies.

“As you recalled, Your Highness, economic relations are intense and growing, and there is significant integration between our economies. And there is a collaborative integration between our companies, which is an aspect of great importance, and one that benefits from the climate of friendship between our countries,” said President Mattarella.

The diplomatic ties are growing too. Monaco sits as an observer on the Franco-Italian cross-border cooperation committee set up under the Quirinal Treaty. It has also joined the Community of Italophony, a forum for the Italian-speaking world founded in Rome on 18th November 2025. The Prince first discussed the idea in Monaco in February 2025 with Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani.

Sport, peace and the rule of law

The President singled out Prince Albert, Princess Charlene and their children for their presence at the Winter Olympics and the Mediterranean Games. He said it reflected “the value that the Principality, like Italy, places on sport at a social level, in the education of young people, and in healthy and fair international relations.”

On the wider world, he signalled complete alignment. “We also spoke about the many problems facing international life at this time, finding constant and full harmony and convergence, inspired by the values of peace, freedom, the equal dignity of every State and the protection of the rule of law and human rights,” said President Mattarella.

What lies beneath

The setting for the final word was no accident. Fifty years after the RAMOGE agreement was signed to protect the Mediterranean, Italy currently holds its presidency, a point the Prince welcomed. Mattarella, standing in the museum founded by Prince Albert I, spoke of the sea that remains largely unexplored.

“It is a place of science that gathers testimony and urges us to explore what we in reality still know very little about, namely the seabed, and the commitment of the Principality of Monaco in this area is particularly precious for the international community,” he said.

He paid tribute to the Principality’s scientist-sovereign as “a scientist who drove the world towards knowledge of the sea and the protection of the sea and of the environment.”

Next stop, Italy

The visit closed with a pledge from one side and an invitation from the other.

“On behalf of all Monegasques, I therefore wish to thank you, Mr President, and to tell you that you can count on me to sustain and enrich, in the future, the long shared history of Monaco and Italy,” said Prince Albert II.

“In conclusion, Your Highness, I would like to thank you once again for your hospitality over these two days and for the meetings we have had, to express my conviction that the ties between our countries will be further strengthened as a result, and to tell you that, naturally, I hope to see you again soon in Italy,” said President Mattarella.

See also: 

Inside Italian President Mattarella’s historic state visit to Monaco

Monaco Life is written by qualified journalists, writing original content. Sign up for our free newsletter, listen to our podcasts on Spotify, and follow us across Facebook,  Instagram, LinkedIn, and Tik Tok.

Main photo credit: Frédéric Nebinger