Silvio Berlusconi has once again caused turmoil in Italian politics after it was revealed that he exchanged “sweet” letters with his long-time “true” friend, Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to EurActive on Wednesday.
The scandal has exposed the leadership of the EU centre-right, which guaranteed Berlusconi’s pro-European credentials just before the elections, while also causing new headaches for Giorgia Meloni, who is struggling to form a government.
“I have re-established relations with President Putin a little, actually a lot”, Forza Italia leader Berlusconi said at a closed-door meeting with his deputies amid tough talks in Rome over the formation of a new government.
“For my birthday, he sent me twenty bottles of vodka and a very sweet letter, and I replied with bottles of Lambrusco and an equally sweet letter. He [Putin] described me as the first of his five true friends”, he said according to an audio file published by LaPresse.
Asked by journalists for an explanation, Berlusconi said his comments referred to a historical episode and denied a resumption of relations with Putin. Still, the audio file had already caused him damage.
The re-connection of the two old friends primarily worries Brothers of Italy leader and highly likely next prime minister Meloni, who, according to press reports, envisages the Justice Ministry for Forza Italia and the Foreign Ministry to Antonio Tajani, also a Forza Italia member.
Berlusconi’s statement not only derails Meloni’s efforts to form a government but also exposes his political family in Brussels, the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP).
During the election campaign, EPP president Manfred Weber had invited Italians to vote for Forza Italia to guarantee its pro-European orientation. /Argumentum.al
