Lieutenant General (Ret.) Francesco Paolo Diella is an Italian Army Veteran with 44-year diversified ed intense military career and experience. He holds the Master of Arts in “Strategic Studies” and the Master’s Degree “Peace Keeping and Security Studies”. He attended the Course for Public Officials “Situation of complex humanitarian emergency crisis and conflicts in crisis areas” at the Diplomatic Institute of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the “Defense Resources Management Course” at the Naval Postgraduate School (California-U.S.A.).
During his very long military career, he carried out all command positions as an anti-aircraft artillery officer, as well as important positions at the Army General Staff and the Defense General Staff dealing with the reorganization of the Army and the rationalization of the Defence. As Commanding General of the Defence General Hospital, as part of the Italian emergency system set up to face the COVID-19 pandemic, General Diella organized and directed all the initial activities related to the involvement of the Defence General Hospital in managing the emergency, in close synergy with the Italian Civil Protection and the National Health Organization.
He was appointed as Italian Army Contingent Commander in the European Union’s “ALTHEA” Operation in Bosnia Herzegovina, Deputy Chief of Staff/Military Civil Advisory Division Chief and Italian Senior National Representative in Kosovo as part of NATO’s KFOR mission, and Director of the Cooperative Security Division of the International Military Staff at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, being responsible for the development and implementation of the military cooperation policy for the security of the Atlantic Alliance, maintaining contacts at the military level and coordinating cooperation activities between the Alliance and the 36 countries NATO partner. During his mandate at NATO, General Diella conducted, as Head of NATO Delegation, negotiations on military cooperation on 4 continents: Africa (Algeria and Egypt), South America (Colombia), Asia (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, South Korea, Georgia, Japan, Mongolia), Europe (Ireland and Serbia) and Oceania (Australia, New Zealand). He also chaired the 7th and 8th edition of the Military Talks between NATO and the African Union, as well as numerous meetings with the Military Committee of the European Union. Finally, in pursuing the policy of dialogue also with non-NATO partner countries, it conducted regular meetings with representatives of the People’s Republic of China, culminating in the resumption of negotiations between NATO and the People’s Liberation Army.