Diplomatic relations between Italy and Mongolia date back to 1970 – therefore 2025 marks the 55th anniversary. Exchanges between Italian and Mongolian people, however, date back to well before 1970. The Chinggis Khaan National Museum in Ulaanbaatar hosts a relic from the Roman era (3rd–2nd century BC), which testifies the existence of contacts between the two people millennia ago. Pope Innocent IV sent the first diplomatic mission in 1245. The Pontiff, concerned about the expansion of the Mongol Empire till the heart of Europe, sent the Franciscan friar Giovanni da Pian del Carpine to Guyuk Khan’s court, with the task of delivering two papal letters to the Khan. This was well before Marco Polo’s travels to the court of the Great Kubilai Khan. In 2024, Italy organized with the Chinggis Khaan Museum, an exhibition dedicated to Marco Polo, on the occasion of the 700th anniversary of his death. A statue dedicated to the famous Venetian is in the centre of Ulaanbaatar.
Relations between Italy and Mongolia are supported by numerous agreements and instruments. The most important of them can be found at the following link. In January 2025, an air service agreement was signed between the two Countries, the first in this sector, establishing a comprehensive regulatory framework to activate direct flights between Italy and Mongolia.
The collaboration between the two Countries is carried out also in the framework of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between Mongolia and the European Union with its Member States (signed in Ulaanbaatar on April 30, 2013).