Who is Elisabetta Belloni, among the candidates for president of the Republic – Corriere.it

The name of Elisabetta Belloni – the diplomat now at the helm of the Security Intelligence Department – among them emerged in the last hours of frantic negotiations between party leaders
for the choice of the next President of the Republic. Sources of the Brothers of Italy, on Thursday morning, made clear the opening to the hypothesis that it is she who goes up to the Quirinale.

Belloni, 63, from Rome, was appointed last year by Mario Draghi as Director General of the Security Information Department. He previously held the role of general secretary of the foreign ministry, where she was replaced by Ambassador Ettore Sequi. Belloni the first woman to reach the top of intelligence (after having been the first woman to lead the Crisis Unit, the first woman to direct Development Cooperation, the first female head of the Cabinet of a Foreign Minister, the first woman to direct the entire machine of the Farnesina).

To weigh, as written here by Fiorenza Sarzanini, was her great experience: for years head of the crisis unit of the Farnesina, Belloni managed the kidnappings of Italians in Iraq by working side by side with the 007 and becoming a point of connection for the government’s action to free the hostages, but also a point of reference for families. As secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, she was responsible for the organization of the Farnesina.

Belloni loves walking: when he ran the Farnesina, he left the house at the crack of dawn, wearing overalls and sneakers, taking an hour to get to the office. Every day, sun or rain changed little. By half past seven she had already taken a shower and was at her desk.

Authoritative but not authoritarian, an exceptional capacity for external relations, understood as such but also human, in the diplomatic, economic, institutional world, including that of the Services, with whom he worked side by side when he headed the Crisis Unit. He never leaves his cell phone, but he really does when on the weekend he enjoys his home in the Arezzo countryside, together with his three beloved Alsatian shepherds and the joys of a vegetable garden that he loves to take care of with his hands. He cultivates a sport of great niche, the archery: it seems that she is also very good at hitting the target.

In 2017 she lost her husband, the ambassador Giorgio Giacomelli.

Throughout her career, she has been candidate several times, with a technical profile, including for political positions: from foreign minister to prime minister. As in these hours, when his name is mentioned for the highest office in the state.

In these first months at the helm of the Italian 007s, he confirmed his remarkable ability to work in a team, to immerse himself in the study of new dossiers and tasks. He appointed another woman as his deputy, the prefect Alessandra Guidi. Her network of international relations, and her new position, often took her abroad, to various capitals: obviously all reserved missions. So confidential that, in some cases, not even the local Italian ambassador was aware of them.

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