Roberta Pinotti

Roberta Pinotti (born 20 May 1961) is an Italian politician, member of the Democratic Party. From 22 February 2014 to 1 June 2018 she served as the Italian Minister of Defence in the governments of Matteo Renzi and Paolo Gentiloni.

Roberta Pinotti
Minister of Defence
In office
22 February 2014 – 1 June 2018
Prime MinisterMatteo Renzi
Paolo Gentiloni
Preceded byMario Mauro
Succeeded byElisabetta Trenta
Member of the Senate of the Republic
Assumed office
29 April 2008
ConstituencyLiguria (2008–2018)
Piedmont (2018–present)
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
In office
30 May 2001 – 28 April 2008
ConstituencyLiguria
Personal details
Born (1961-05-20) 20 May 1961
Genoa, Italy
Political partyDemocratic Party
Alma materUniversity of Genoa
Signature

Early life

Roberta Pinotti was born in Genoa, in 1961; she holds a degree in modern literature at the University of Genoa and is a teacher of Italian in high schools.[1][2]

During her adolescence, she was a member of the Association of Italian Catholic Guides and Scouts.

Political career

She began her political career at the end of the 1980s as a district counselor of Italian Communist Party.[1][2] She later joined the Democratic Party of the Left, the Democrats of the Left party (in which she held the position of provincial secretary between 1999 and 2001) and the Democratic Party.[1] In her hometown she has served as councilor for school, youth policies and social policies (1993–1997) and for educational institutions (1997–1999).[1][2]

First elected deputy in 2001, Pinotti was the shadow minister of defense in the Shadow Cabinet of Walter Veltroni between May 2008 and April 2009.[3]

In 2012 she was a candidate to the centre-left primary election to become Mayor of Genoa, but she arrived only third after the leftist Marco Doria and the upcoming Mayor Marta Vincenzi.[4]

In 2013 she was appointed undersecretary of state (sottosegretario di stato) in the Ministry of Defence in the government led by Enrico Letta.[5]

Minister of Defence

When the new Secretary of the Democratic Party Matteo Renzi forced Letta to resign and became the new Prime Minister on 22 February 2014, he appointed Pinotti as Minister of Defence;[1] she is the first woman to have ever held this office in Italy.

Her first act was to meet the wives of the two Italian marines detained in India, due to the Enrica Lexie case.

She received the America Award of the Italy-USA Foundation in 2014.

Pinotti with the U.S. Secretary of Defense, James Mattis, in 2017.

In October 2014 she visited the United Arab Emirates and met with Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in order to strengthen the bilateral relations with regards to the Defense.[6][7] In February 2015 she returned to the United Arab Emirates in occasion of the International Defence Industry Exhibition (IDEX), attended by several Italian companies, and met again with Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.[8][9]

She received criticism in February 2015 over navy recruitment adverts which used slogans written in English.[10] Later that month she hinted that Italy was ready to lead a coalition force to defeat ISIS in Libya, saying: “We have been discussing it for months, but now an intervention has become urgent.”[11]

On 12 December 2016, when Renzi resigned as Prime Minister after the constitutional referendum, Pinotti was confirmed as Defence Minister by the new Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni.[12]

In 2017 the Parliament approved the so-called "White Book", a plan of reorganization of the heads of the Ministry of Defence and the related structures; the plan also provided a reform of the Italian Armed Forces and a reorganization of the training system.[13][14]

References
  1. "I 16 ministri: ecco chi sono". L'Unità. 21 February 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  2. "Roberta Pinotti". Corriere della Sera. 21 February 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  3. "Governo ombra, tutti i nomi". Corriere della Sera. 9 May 2008. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  4. Primarie, tutti i risultati
  5. "Governo Letta (28/04/2013 - 21/02/2014)" (in Italian). Governo Italiano. Archived from the original on 5 March 2014. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  6. "Italy – United Arab Emirates: Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti meets Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed al Nahyan". Italian Ministry of Defence. 21 October 2014. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
  7. "Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan meets Italy Defence Minister". GulfNews. 21 October 2014. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
  8. "Idex 2015: Italy at the International Defence Industry Exhibition". Italian Ministry of Defence. 23 February 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
  9. "Mohamed bin Zayed receives French, Italian defence ministers". WAM. 22 February 2015. Archived from the original on 20 March 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
  10. "MP chides navy for English recruitment adverts". BBC. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  11. "Italy and Libya: Fears over the sea". The Economist. 21 February 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  12. Gentiloni presenta governo, Padoan confermato all'Economia
  13. Libro Bianco, approvato il DDL
  14. Libro bianco: il Ministro Pinotti ha illustrato la riforma delle Forze armate
Political offices
Preceded by
Mario Mauro		 Minister of Defence
2014–2018		 Succeeded by
Elisabetta Trenta
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