In a message congratulating Lebanon on its first parliamentary elections in almost a decade, Italy's foreign minister Angelino Alfano hailed the historically friendly ties between the two countries.
"Italy reaffirms the traditional friendship between our two peoples," Alfano said.
That friendship is shown by a conference the Italian government hosted in Rome on 15 March in support of Lebanon's security forces, Alfano noted.
Italy's contribution to the UN-backed peacekeeping force in Lebanon and "our close bilateral relations in trade and in the field of the economy and culture,” are further proof this friendship, Alfano said.
Sunday's landmark polls bolstered Lebanon's democratic institutions and formed "the first bulwark against all threats to the country’s stability," Alfano stated.