EU-DIGEST

Russia should join EU, Berlusconi says

Russia should be allowed to join the European Union in the coming years, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said Wednesday. "I consider Russia to be a Western nation. So my project is that the Russian Federation should become a member of the EU in the coming years," Berlusconi told Italian reporters on the sidelines of an EU summit in Brussels.Asked whether the time had come for the EU to normalize its relations with Moscow, Berlusconi said: "I would go beyond that." Berlusconi has frequently touted his close friendship with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, and Putin's two daughters have been spotted in the past spending their summer holidays at Berlusconi's villa in Sardinia.

Labels: Berlusconi, Economy, EU, Putin, Russia

Silvio Berlusconi faces Muslim clash - by Malcolm Moore

Silvio Berlusconi is facing a row with the Muslim world over his plans to appoint a member of the far-Right to his cabinet. Roberto Calderoli, 52, a senior member of the Northern League, enraged Muslims two years ago during the row over a set of Danish cartoons featuring the Prophet Mohammed. He appeared on television wearing a T-shirt printed with one of the cartoons. The Italian consulate in Libya was set on fire and 11 people died in riots. Mr Calderoli has also threatened to defile the proposed site of a mosque in Padua by walking a pig over the ground. When Italy beat France in the 2006 World Cup, he said France had "sacrificed its identity by fielding niggers, Muslims and communists".

Note EU-Digest: with friends like Mr.Berlusconi who needs any enemies?

Labels: Berlusconi, EU, Italy, Muslims

Outrage over Berlusconi remarks on immigration

Italy’s Prime Minister-elect Silvio Berlusconi was running true to form on Tuesday as he basked in his overwhelming victory in the general elections held earlier this week. By declaring that illegal immigrants are “an army of evil” he gave Italians a taste of things to come. There has been a rising tide of anti-immigrant sentiment in Italy, especially towards people coming from Romania, Albania, Kosovo, and other parts of the Balkans, with attempts to repatriate Roma gypsies often described as “liars and thieves.” In a long press conference, Mr. Berlusconi brushed off criticism that he would be putty in the hands of his key coalition partner Umberto Bossi of the Northern League who has been calling for the break-up of Italy into three distinct federal regions so that the wealthy north no longer has to subsidize the poor south. However, he did say he would “increase neighbourhood police forces who would place themselves between the people of Italy and the army of evil.” Mr. Berlusconi’s remarks caused tremendous outrage and prompted Walter Veltroni of the Democratic Party who lost the election to remark: “I am horrified by his statements so far. His words do not add up to a good start.”

Note EU-Digest: Silvio Berlusconi is the worst possible choice for Italy at this stage of its history. It is sinking under a huge public debt, the heaviest tax burden in the euro zone, and the fastest aging workforce. Mr. Berlusconi probably realizes that the premier in a country with a 900-odd member parliament and numerous parties holds virtually no executive power. "He has no more projects," says Mr. Ferrara, an old fan. "He has no delusions. He has become very cynical. Italy is so hard to rule that Berlusconi probably figures, 'I won't try anything, I will go with the mainstream and give Italians what they want, shelter from competition, the tax man and most of all, "precariousness" of any kind". Italy today is like "a person on life support" and its re-elected leader Berlusconi provides no hope for change. Italy's problems and the election of Berlusconi prompted comedian Beppe Grillo to joke: "Please, invade us. Help us!"

Labels: Berlusconi, Elections, EU, Italy

Silvio Berlusconi angers Spain for mocking female cabinet

A heated row has broken out between Spain and Italy over whether women should be given powerful Cabinet jobs. Silvio Berlusconi, who takes power shortly as Prime Minister of Italy for the third time, caused outrage in Spain after he suggested that the new Government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero was “too pink”. Mr Berlusconi, who won a sweeping victory in this week’s Italian election, told a radio station: “Zapatero has formed a government that is too pink, something that we cannot do in Italy because there is a prevalence of men in politics and it isn’t easy to find women who are qualified.”

Labels: Berlusconi, EU, Spain

Berlusconi Wins Italian Election, Set for Third Term (Italians vote in favor of self-destructions) - by Steve Scherer and Flavia Krause-Jackson)

Billionaire media mogul Silvio Berlusconi won a majority in both houses of the Italian parliament and will return to power for a third term as premier. Berlusconi's People of Liberty party and its allies took 166 seats in the Senate, the upper house, to 138 for Walter Veltroni's Democratic Party and its partner, according to a projection by RAI state television. In the Chamber of Deputies, Berlusconi took 45.9 percent of the vote compared with Veltroni's 38.9 percent, RAI estimated. That would give Berlusconi about 340 lower-house seats out of 630. ``Berlusconi is back,'' said Maurizio Pessato, chief executive officer of polling company SWG Srl in Trieste, Italy. ``With this result, he can last.''

Note EU-Digest: The question might not be if he can last, but if the Italians can survive? Italy deserves better.

Labels: Berlusconi, Elections, Italy

Italy - Berlusconi says he would veto sale of Alitalia to Air France: report ( the "mad" Italian politician is back on the EU Scene

Berlusconi said that if he gains the premiership for a third time, he would respond to the offer from Air France-KLM with "a curt no." "It is not a matter of saying no against France but against the conditions proposed," said the media tycoon, widely seen as the favourite to win the April 13-14 elections.

Alitalia, which has lurched from crisis to crisis for years, is now close to bankruptcy.

Labels: Alitalia, Berlusconi, EU, Italy

Berlusconi's party votes against supporting Italian military effort in Afghanistan and splits opposition against Prodi - by Stephen Brown

Italian opposition leader Silvio Berlusconi may have scored an "own goal" by not supporting an Afghan peace mission in a senate vote which, instead of showing how weak the government is, split the centre right in two. Berlusconi's coalition, ousted by Romano Prodi's alliance in 2006, looked closer to what the media dubbed a "divorce" on Wednesday when the Christian Democrats (UDC), who broke ranks in Tuesday's vote, asked to meet the head of state - alone.

UDC leader Pierferdinando Casini, a centrist who has long been a thorn in Berlusconi's side, said he trusted opposition supporters would realise "that in the senate, Berlusconi made a serious mistake - an own goal" over the vote.

Labels: Berlusconi, EU, Italy, Political, Prodi