The former prime minister of Italy is said to have received a generous birthday gift from the Russian president and also contacted him in writing. The party of the winner of the election distances itself from the head of Forza Italia.
Four-time Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi embarrasses election winner Giorgia Meloni with his remarks about his good relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The right-wing populist’s party and Berlusconi’s ally, which should receive the order on Friday to form a government from head of state Sergio Mattarella, distanced itself from the media entrepreneur’s words.
“It must be clear that Giorgia Meloni sympathizes with the Ukrainian people who are being attacked by Putin. Italy is and will continue to be part of the European Union and NATO. Berlusconi, like all the others, negotiated with Putin to achieve this historic phase. ended when Putin decided to invade Ukraine with tanks,” Fabio Rampelli, leader of Meloni’s post-fascist Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy/FdI) party, said in a TV interview on Tuesday night. In contrast to Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party and its ally, the Lega, Fratelli d’Italia strongly condemned Russia after the attack in Ukraine.
birthday greetings and letters
Berlusconi, 86, told members of parliament in his Forza Italia on Tuesday that Putin gave him 20 bottles of vodka for his birthday on September 29. Berlusconi also reported an exchange of letters and thus caused criticism.
“I have resumed relations with President Putin for a while. He sent me 20 bottles of vodka and a very sweet letter on my birthday. I responded to him with bottles of Lambrusco and an equally sweet letter,” Berlusconi said, according to an audio recording. . which circulated through Italian news agencies on Tuesday.
The media entrepreneur thus indicated that he had resumed relations with Putin after the attack on Ukraine. However, this was firmly denied by Berlusconi’s union delegates. “Berlusconi told lawmakers an old story that dates back to 2008,” emphasized the party’s “number two”, former EU Parliament leader Antonio Tajani, who is being negotiated as a possible foreign minister in a right-wing government led by the election winner Meloni. Berlusconi later claimed that he was just telling “an old story”.