Ambassador Alessandro Azzoni
Born in Parma on March 28, 1965, he graduated in Political Science from the University of Florence, Faculty of Political Science “Cesare Alfieri,” and started his diplomatic career in 1991.
Before taking up the position of Permanent Representative to the North Atlantic Council on September 15, 2025, he was Deputy Director General for Political Affairs and Central Director for Security at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (2023–2025). Previously, he was Director of the Unit for the European Union’s Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (2012–2016). He also served as Chief of Staff of the Directorate for Political and Security Affairs (2001–2004) and Deputy Head of the Office for East Asia within the Directorate General for Economic Affairs (1993–1994).
During his career, he also served as Permanent Representative to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna (2016–2020), holding the Chairmanship of the OSCE Permanent Council from January 1 to December 31, 2018. He was Deputy Head of Mission in Ankara (2008–2012) and in Dakar (1998–2001), as well as Counselor at Italy’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Vienna (2004–2008) and Consul in Barcelona (1994–1998).
He was also appointed Special Envoy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Relations between Turkey and the European Union (2021) and Diplomatic Adviser to the Minister for the South and Territorial Cohesion (2021–2022).
He is a member of the Advisory Board of the Department of Law, Political and International Studies at the University of Parma, and he is the author of numerous publications on diplomacy and security.
He has been awarded the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic – Officer.
He is married and has a daughter. He speaks English, French, and Spanish.