The Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games will be officially opened today. It is a global event that will bring 3.500 athletes from more than 90 countries to Italy, competing in 304 events, with an estimated global audience of three billion people. Today, 50 heads of state and government from around the world will be present in Italy for the official opening ceremony.
It is clear that Milan-Cortina 2026 will not only be about sport: it will also be about development, innovation and a vision for the future. With an estimated economic impact of 5,3 billion euros, the Games will leave a legacy of infrastructure and territorial growth. They will also once again be a powerful instrument of the so-called soft powera, which will bring about a permanent strengthening of Italy's international position.
For the first time in history, the Games are becoming “spread”: two symbolic cities, Milan and Cortina, and a whole system of territories and provinces such as Lombardy, Veneto and Trentino-South Tyrol, will be united by a sustainable and inclusive vision. And that is the first “political” signal.
The Winter Games create effects that go beyond the sporting dimension, influencing infrastructure, territorial development, production chains, and the international positioning of our country.
The Games' organizational system foresees the involvement of around 18.000 volunteers and a special diplomatic task force, young officials, institutions and local communities. This is a commitment that confirms Italy's ability to successfully organize events of a global scale, as we have recently seen during the Jubilee.
At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, we followed the arrival of the Games with an integrated strategy, launched two years ago with the establishment of the "Office for Sports Diplomacy" and developed through international road show in Europe, North America and Asia, with the involvement of athletes, media and businesses.
The aim was twofold: to valorize the territories and communities involved and to strengthen Italy's image as an innovative, sustainable and welcoming country. The Games were at the heart of numerous initiatives, at Expo Osaka 2025, at business forums abroad and during the Italian Sports Day in the World.
This is why Italy has decided to invest heavily in sports diplomacy, making it a structural component of its international action.
But the Olympic Games represent values such as fair and peaceful competition among young people from all over the world; they have always been universal symbols of peace, respect and inclusion. In an international context marked by conflict, sport remains a credible space for dialogue. The Olympics were born for peace.
Italy confirmed this by facilitating the adoption of the United Nations Resolution on the Olympic Truce, supported by the Pope and the President of the Republic: a concrete appeal for sport to silence the guns.
More than 233.000 people have been killed in armed violence in the last year alone, causing more than 123 million people to be displaced. Italy continues to be a protagonist on the diplomatic and humanitarian front, advocating for peace in Ukraine and Gaza, without forgetting less visible conflicts, such as that in Sudan, where millions of people have been forced to flee. Through humanitarian initiatives such as Food for Gaza i Italy for Sudan, our country is at the forefront of protecting the civilian population, especially children, who are among the hardest hit by the consequences of war.
That is why Milano-Cortina 2026 represents a unique opportunity to reaffirm who we are and what we believe in. With these Games, we want to address the world, speaking of Italy as a builder of peace, growth and international cooperation. Our "Peace Games" will be a commitment that we all share.
The author is the Vice President of the Government and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of Italy.
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