Jack Markell is the new US ambassador to Italy. Our country was one of the few offices still vacant (as of January 20, 2021), the only one among the great States in which Washington had appointed only one business representative. He arrived in the capital together with his wife Carla on Saturday morning. To welcome him at the "Leonardo da Vinci" airport of Rome-Fiumicino were diplomatic representatives, from Enac and from the manager of Aeroporti di Roma.

"We are thrilled to have arrived in the capital. It is an honor and a privilege to be the United States Ambassador Designate to the Italian Republic and the Republic of San Marino". "Eighteen million Americans have Italian ancestry and President Lincoln was an honorary citizen of San Marino". "I can't wait to present my credentials to President Mattarella and to get to know the Italian people", said Markell, before taking up residence at Villa Taverna. 

The new ambassador arrived in Rome with an aircraft from Philadelphia and operated by the air carrier American Airlines. Married with two children, Markell was nominated by US President Joe Biden in June and confirmed by the Senate in July. He takes the place of Lewis Eisenberg, nominated by ex-President Donald Trump, who completed his mandate on January 17, 2021. Washington has been represented in Italy by charge d'affaires Shawn Crowley.

Upon his arrival at Fiumicino airport, the president of the National Civil Aviation Authority, Pierluigi Di Palma, said: "We are very pleased with your arrival in Rome, especially for the strong and long-standing ties that unite the United States and Italy. Also in the field of civil aviation our relations and the numerous collaborations between our civil aviation authorities, ENAC and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), are very strong and of fundamental importance for the progress of this sector".