President Iliana Iotova was visiting Italy at the invitation of International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry for the official opening ceremony of the XXV Winter Olympic Games in Milano/Cortina. Together with the President of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee, the Head of State was a guest at the official reception hosted by the IOC for heads of state and leaders of national Olympic committees.

 

Iliana Iotova paid tribute at the bas-relief of Vasil Levski in Monza, home to the second largest Bulgarian community in Italy. Iotova was welcomed by the city's mayor, Paolo Pilotto. The sculpture of the Apostle of Freedom is the work of Boris Borisov and was donated by the Municipality of Karlovo last year. This is the first monument to the Bulgarian revolutionary in Italy.

 

President Iotova was welcomed by her Italian counterpart Sergio Mattarella and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at the Royal Palace in Milan, where an official reception dedicated to the opening ceremony of the XXV Winter Olympic Games took place.

 

The Head of State visited the Olympic Village in Milan, where she was welcomed by the President of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee, Vessela Lecheva, and figure skater Aleksandra Feigin. In the Olympic Village, the Head of State spoke with her German opposite number, Frank-Walter Steinmeier.