Giulio Regeni's unsolved 2016 abduction and barbaric killing in Egypt mean Italy can't normalise bilateral relations, despite shared security and regional interests, foreign minister Luigi Di Maio said on Thursday.
"We cannot normalise bilateral ties with Egypt... there are no joint trade or cultural initiatives or new accords, cooperation or strengthened dialogue taking place," Di Maio told lawmakers.
"These opportunities do not exist, due the lack of collaboration over the Regeni case," Di Maio told a hearing of the parliamentary committee probing Regeni's murder.
There are no official visits taking place between Italy and Egypt and the last Italian premier to meet Egypt's president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was Giuseppe Conte on 23 September, 2019, Di Maio noted.
"The Regeni case was the focus of those talks," Di Maio said.
Four senior Egyptian security officers will go on trial in Egypt in absentia in mid-October for Regeni's abduction, torture and killing in early 2016.
Egyptian have authorities refused to extradite the defendants to stand trial in Italy, claiming the charges against them were without merit.
