Italy ambassador to Egypt Maurizio Massari will become Italy's envoy to the European Union, prime minister Matteo Renzi announced on Tuesday after the diplomat was recalled over the murder of researcher Giulio Regeni..
"The head of Italy's diplomatic mission in Brussels will be Maurizio Massari, Italy's ambassador to Egypt" Renzi said after a cabinet meeting in Rome.
Italian diplomat Giampaolo Cantini will replace Massari as envoy to Egypt, Renzi said.
Italy last month recalled Massari over a lack of progress in the probe into the murder of an Italian doctoral student Giulio Regeni. The move followed a meeting between investigators in Rome and marked a significant worsening of diplomatic ties between the two countries.
Regeni's battered body with signs of torture was allegedly found on a Cairo roadside on 3 February, nine days after he vanished in the capital.
The 28-year-old PhD student disappeared on the heavily policed anniversary of the 25 January anniversary of the Egyptian uprisings that ousted long-time autocratic ruler Hosni Mubarak in 2011.
Regeni's torture and murder prompted an outcry from the global academic community and Italy, with Rome accusing Cairo of failing to provide vital evidence.
Egypt denies claims by human rights groups that security forces were behind Regeni's murder and has tried to pin the killing on an alleged criminal gang whose members were killed in a shoot-out with police.
