He had turned 70 last November 22, General Claudio Graziano, who was found dead this morning at his home from causes yet to be ascertained. He had recently lost his wife. Currently president of Fincantieri, Graziano had spent a lifetime in the ranks of our army, which led him to the top echelons of defense: from February 2015 to November 2018, he was chief of the Defense General Staff; later he served as chairman of the Military Committee of the European Union. But before that, a multiplicity of experiences with which he represented our country in the world. To name just a few: in 1992, he had been at the head of the Alpine Battalion "Susa", deployed in Mozambique as part of the United Nations peacekeeping mission, with the main task of ensuring the security of the Beira corridor, facilitating and supporting humanitarian and medical relief to local populations. From July 2005 to February 2006, he had assumed command of the "Multinational Brigade Kabul" in Afghanistan and, with it, responsibility for the area of operations in Kabul province, directing, among other things, numerous humanitarian initiatives in the area of reconstruction activities and first aid to populations. In January 2007, the UN Secretary General had given him the post of Force Commander of the Unifil mission in Lebanon, where he had fulfilled the role of commander of the UN forces, as well as head of mission, also becoming responsible for the entire UN civilian component in Lebanon, including the coordination of humanitarian aid and reconstruction and relief activities undertaken. The President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, remembers his "figure as a generous and loyal man of the institutions, capable of always putting his expertise and professionalism at the service of the Republic, qualities demonstrated in the important top national and international roles he held during his long career”.
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