Antonio Tajani (; born 4 August 1953) is an Italian politician, journalist and former Italian Air Force officer, who has served as Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Minister of Foreign Affairs since 22 October 2022. He served as President of the European Parliament from 2017 to 2019, as European Commissioner from 2008 to 2014, and also as a member of the European Parliament from 1994 to 2008 and again from 2014 to 2022 until he was elected to Italy's Chamber of Deputies. Career Early years Born to a mother from Ferentino, in the province of Frosinone, and a father from Vietri sul Mare, in the province of Salerno, Tajani attended the Liceo Torquato Tasso in Rome and graduated in law from the Sapienza University of Rome; he was a complement officer of the Italian Air Force. After attending the high specialization course in air defense at Borgo Piave di Latina, he was air defense controller at the San Giovanni Teatino radar base. In his youth Tajani was a militant of Fronte Monarchico Giovanile (Youth Monarchist Front), a student organization of the Italian Monarchist Union (UMI). He has consistently advocated the return from exile of the House of Savoy (which was banned by the Italian Constitution until 2002, when the Italian Parliament lifted the ban). He was one of the founders of the Forza Italia party in 1994, and then regional coordinator of the party in Lazio from 1994 in 2005. In Berlusconi's first government (1994–95), he was a spokesman for the Prime Minister. In 1996 he ran for parliament in the Alatri college, but obtained only 45.3% of the votes and was defeated by the representative of the Olive Tree. In 2001, Tajani was a candidate for mayor of Rome for the coalition of the House of Freedom, but was defeated by Walter Veltroni after polling 47.8% of votes. Professional journalist since 1980, he was parliamentary reporter, editor of "Il Settimanale", presenter on Rai of Gr1 and finally head of the Roman editorial staff of Il Giornale newspaper under the direction of Indro Montanelli. He was a special envoy to Lebanon, the Soviet Union and Somalia. In addition to Italian he speaks English, French and Spanish. He is married and has two children. Europe, European Parliament In 1994 Tajani was elected a Member of the European Parliament (MEP), and reelected in 1999 and 2004. He was chairman of the