(left), General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party, meets with
Amintore Fanfani (right), Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, in 1967 Relations between Italy and Romania have traditionally been close due to a large Latin kinship, thanks to their shared similar languages. During World War I, both countries fought the
Austro-Hungarian Empire, and during World War II, contributed hundreds of thousands of troops to the
Eastern Front where many died fighting the Soviets. More recently, after the collapse of the Soviet bloc, over a million Romanians moved to Italy for work and better living conditions. == Companies ==