06/13/2023 2:56 pm (act. 06/13/2023 03:00 pm)
Former Prime Minister Berlusconi died on Monday aged 86 ©APA/AFP
At the state funeral of former Prime Minister of Italy Silvio Berlusconi on Wednesday in Milan Cathedral, several representatives of the Italian government will be present alongside President Sergio Mattarella. According to media reports, a state flight with 32 government representatives on board will take off from Rome towards Milan. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is expected to attend the state funeral, which is expected to be attended by thousands of people.
All activities in Parliament will be suspended on Wednesday. Wednesday will be a day of mourning across Italy, and flags will fly at half mast. Politicians from all fields sent their condolences to the Berlusconi family. Foreign politicians are also expected. Italian EU Economic Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni will represent the EU Commission at the state funeral on behalf of EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Condolence books have been placed in Italy’s embassies abroad, the foreign ministry in Rome said.
MEPs from the European People’s Party honored Berlusconi in a minute’s silence before the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, at the request of EPP President Manfred Weber. “We observed a minute of silence for Silvio Berlusconi, our former deputy. May he rest in peace,” the EPP said. “I have been friends with Berlusconi since 1999, when he joined the EPP family with his Forza Italia party and strengthened it. He was a person of great vision and intuition, capable of bringing people together, regardless of their differences. We have lost a very committed European. who dreamed of an ever stronger EU”, said Weber.
“Silvio Berlusconi was a fighter who founded and led the centre-right movement in Italy, a political protagonist for generations. He contributed to crucial periods of European and Italian history. He was also controversial in the European Parliament, but everyone here remembers him for his generosity, his courage and his charisma. History will judge his work, but the man Berlusconi left his mark,” said European Parliament President Roberta Metola at a short commemoration ceremony outside the plenary session.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also sent condolences to the Berlusconi family in Italian and Turkish on his Instagram account. “I am deeply saddened by the death of my friend Silvio Berlusconi, with whom we worked for many years. I share the grief of his family and loved ones with all my heart and offer my sincere condolences to the entire Italian people,” he wrote. the Turkish president.
“Berlusconi is leaving a great vacuum, but also an exceptional legacy of values. Without Berlusconi, nothing will be the same in Italy. We will have to work even harder and better, but it will not be easy without him”, said the President of the Lega and the Minister of Transport, Matteo Salvini, according to media reports. “Berlusconi had the ability to mediate, hold everything together and bring 10 people with different opinions around the table and reach an agreement,” said Salvini, whose Lega is a minority partner in Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party in Meloni’s ruling coalition.
Berlusconi, 86, died on Monday at the San Raffaele clinic in Milan. He suffered from chronic leukemia. The Milan-based media mogul has left a deep mark on Italy’s political scene since he entered politics in 1994.
Berlusconi’s eldest son, Pier Silvio, CEO of family media group Mediaset, said on Tuesday he would have achieved nothing without his late father’s support. In a letter to all group employees, the 54-year-old manager emphasized that his father considered Mediaset to be his creation. “Now it is our duty to follow in his footsteps and keep working. Today we have to look forward and work even harder. We have to build an even stronger and even more vibrant group. We have to do this for Mediaset. We have to do this for everyone. us. But, above all, we have to do it for him”, wrote the manager.