Abstract:  
The object of this article is the foreign affairs of Italian regions with other countries and their territorial entities. Despite the unitary state structure, Italy is a bright example of “regionalistic” country, within the framework of which the individual administrative-territorial units receive high level of autonomy in different spheres, including international relations. Therefore, de facto Italy can be regarded as “quasi-federation”. Analysis is conducted on the historical peculiarities of foreign activity of the Italian regions. The author examines the norms of Italian legislation on the division of powers between the state and the regions, as well as refers to the statutes of separate regions of Italy in the aspect of regulation of international cooperation. The novelty of this research consists in the analysis of legal framework with regards to the activity of Italian regions as the subjects of international cooperation, their legal capacity in the context of the conducted in Italy policy of decentralization policy. The article determines the key prerequisites for the devolution process in Italy, including contradictions between the South and North of the country, rise of popularity of regionalistic political parties and movements in the 1980s – 1990s, as well as the policy of EU institutions aimed at the establishment of direct contacts between the regions of the European states. The conclusion is made that granting extended autonomy to the Italian regions in sphere of international relations testifies to the erosion of sovereignty towards subnational level, which in turn, allows us resolving the tasks of socioeconomic development of the territories, as well as establishment of cultural and humanitarian connections with foreign countries, including Russia.
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