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March 22, 2005 is a working day for Fabrizio Romano, Italian ambassador to Georgia, but he is changing it a bit.
"Why not? I will tell you about me," Romano smiled while taking his seat on an armchair next to a sofa. A small table in front of him is covered with different journals, newspapers, and books.
During his diplomatic career, Romano has witnessed great events in two post-Soviet countries.
"It shocked me. I was working in the Italian embassy in Moscow the early 1990s. I followed the invasion of the White House from a distance of 300 meters. About 10 years later, I witnessed the Rose Revolution in Georgia. I don’t think it is my fate to be present in countries that make radical changes. It was not so in other countries," Romano said with a smile.
During his 18-year diplomatic life, the 45-year-old Romano has held positions for three years in the African country of Cameroon, five years in Russia, and three years in Germany. Georgia is the first country where he was sent as an ambassador, in 2003.
"Politically, Georgia is one of the most interesting regions in the world today," he said. "Of course there’s the revolution, and also presence of Russians, the interests of US in this country, and it’s tendencies toward European Union and NATO. A new kind of international relationship is being worked out here. It is very interesting."
While answering the question of whether it is difficult to be in politics, Romano paused a moment, crossed his legs and began his answer slowly.
"I can’t say that I am a politician. I am a political observer. This is some kind of an extreme job, but I like it. We live in the heart of events. One of the pluses of this job is the levels of relationships between representatives of power, different communities and the ordinary people."
Antonio DiRomano, head of the embassy’s counsel’s office, has worked with Romano both in Moscow and in Georgia. He says the secret to Romano’s success is his ability to find a human approach to everybody.
"It was the early 1990s. At that time, only the consul department of the Italian embassy in Moscow was giving visas to the citizens of all the post-Soviet countries. There was a difficult situation. Hundred of people were waiting their turns to get visas. And Fabrizio Romano was assigned as the head of the department. In a short time he managed to solve the problem by talking separately to everyone and apologizing for making them wait.
"He is a master at combining the role of a friend, colleague and ambassador. I can say for sure he has no enemies. I do think it helped him to get whatever he has now."
In his busy working day, which starts about 8 in the morning and lasts until late at night, the ambassador says he has to find some spare time for family, friends and himself. Romano is greatly interested in mountain skiing, classic music and reading.
"To only be aware of political news is not enough for me," he said. "I also need cultural news and, for sure, to know what is going on in world literature."
Romano is very modest while talking about his career. His childhood had a great influence on his future. Though he was born in Toscana, his childhood was spent in different countries. He finished Classic Lyceum, a college in Italy where he studied ancient languages, and then graduated from the law department of the University of Rome.
"My father was a military pilot," he says. "For several years we lived in the USSR. Everything was different then. We felt like complete foreigners there. I started to study Russian in the beginning, and then I studied English, French, German and Spanish. Years later it greatly influenced my choice of profession.
I passed a job competition, and then I started working in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In order to be able to change the place where one lives every three years, a person should be psychologically well-prepared. I have that experience. As a rule, in every country I work I try to find something interesting. And what is most interesting is that I always miss most the country I lived in last."
Though he and his Argentine-born wife do not have a child yet, he said he would like his child to be a diplomat. As for himself, Romano is going to continue his diplomatic activity until he retires.
"It was my cherished desire to work in different countries," he says. "That’s why I aimed for diplomacy just after university. And I was never sorry for this decision."
