Berlusconi embraced by the crowd during his trip in Crimea, 2015. Kremlin.ru
Italy: Uproar over vodka and a birthday greeting
In the new right-wing governing coalition in Italy, relations with Russia are a thorny issue. While Giorgia Meloni has already announced her support for the western sanctions policy, her male partners, Lega chief Salvini and former four-time prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, have untroubled relations with Moscow.
Published: October 24, 2022, 7:07 am
Berlusconi in particular is currently being criticized for allegedly receiving vodka and a friendly birthday greeting from Moscow.
“I’ve somewhat resumed relations with President Putin. He sent me 20 bottles of vodka and a very sweet letter for my birthday. I replied to him with bottles of Lambrusco and an equally sweet letter,” Berlusconi said, according to an audio recording circulated by Italian news outlets.
However, Berlusconi’s entourage denied that the exchange had been recent. “Berlusconi told the parliamentarians an old story that goes back to 2008,” said the party’s number two, ex-EU Parliament leader Antonio Tajani. Tajani is the new foreign minister in the Meloni government. Berlusconi later asserted that he had only told “an old story”.
On Saturday, Tajani said his first act as the head of the foreign ministry will be to call his Ukraine counterpart Dmytro Kuleba to express Italy’s “solidarity”. The Forza Italia (FI) national coordinator told Mediaset’s Tg4 news that Ukraine was “defending its independence with the support of NATO”.
Berlusconi meanwhile believes that the audio was “stolen” and deliberately disclosed “with the sole purpose of spreading slander and disinformation”.
The former Prime Minister underlined the risks of escalating the war: “Today, unfortunately, in the Western world, there are no leaders. There are none in Europe and in the United States of America.”
He can be heard accusing Kiev of failing to uphold an international peace deal with the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics. When Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky came to power in 2019, he “tripled down” on attacking the regions, according to Berlusconi.
Fodder for the opposition
His political opponents expressed alarm. The faction leader of the center parties Azione and Italia Viva in the Chamber of Deputies, Matteo Richetti, described Berlusconi’s words as “worrying”. He criticized the fact that two future governing parties, the Lega and Berlusconi’s Forza Italia, maintained ties with Moscow.
Since their first meeting in 2001 at the G-8 summit in Genoa, Berlusconi and Putin have maintained a “genuine, deep and honest friendship”, according to the Italian head of government at the time.
In 2017, Berlusconi flew to Moscow to celebrate his 65th birthday with Putin. After the Russian attack on Ukraine in February, Berlusconi was “deeply disappointed”. In an interview in September, however, he showed sympathy for the actions that Putin were “forced” to carry out.
Interviewed by Italian daily Corriere della Sera, Berlusconi reiterated Forza Italia ‘s position and took the opportunity to issue a strong condemnation of Russia’s position on Ukraine: “My position absolutely coincides with that of the Italian government, the European Union, the ‘Atlantic Alliance, of our American allies, and is in clear condemnation of the military attack against a free and sovereign state”.
At the same time, he did not renounce his past friendships with Vladimir Putin, “which had led to important results, always achieved in full agreement with our Western allies, such as the 2002 treaty in Pratica di Mare which ended after more fifty years of Cold War anguish and my intervention in 2008 to prevent the Russian invasion of Georgia”.
“Are those who take sides only to gain accreditation in Washington and Brussels more loyal to NATO and to Europe?” Il Giornale columnist Augusto Minzolini, wanted to know.
All rights reserved. You have permission to quote freely from the articles provided that the source (www.freewestmedia.com) is given. Photos may not be used without our consent.
Consider donating to support our work
Help us to produce more articles like this. FreeWestMedia is depending on donations from our readers to keep going. With your help, we expose the mainstream fake news agenda.
Keep your language polite. Readers from many different countries visit and contribute to Free West Media and we must therefore obey the rules in, for example, Germany. Illegal content will be deleted.
If you have been approved to post comments without preview from FWM, you are responsible for violations of any law. This means that FWM may be forced to cooperate with authorities in a possible crime investigation.
If your comments are subject to preview by FWM, please be patient. We continually review comments but depending on the time of day it can take up to several hours before your comment is reviewed.
We reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive, contain slander or foul language, or are irrelevant to the discussion.
Europe
New App Helps Locate Sweden’s Historic Runestones
A new app called Swedish Runestones will help locate historical gems.
Swedish military wants to remilitarize the Åland Islands
The demilitarized autonomy has previously been known as 'the islands of peace.
NOAA Predicts Zero Sunspots for Almost the Whole 2030s
CLIMATEThe United States' government scientific organization, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), predicts zero sunspots from 2031 to 2040. This is an extreme situation that has not occurred in as long as humanity has been counting sunspots, and it leads us into uncharted territory in terms of our solar system. However, this prediction aligns with the warnings of the world-renowned solar researcher Valentina Zharkova for many years, who indicated in 2019 various signs of this catastrophic phenomenon, including the extreme hailstorms we have seen in Europe and the world this summer. The forecast and various observations this year give cause for very significant concern. In this unique analysis, Free West Media explains why.
European Nationalist Parties Forge Cooperation Ahead of EU Elections
EUROPEAN ELECTIONSOn Saturday, August 26, representatives of six European nationalist parties gathered in Budapest. The meeting was initiated by the Hungarian party Mi Hazánk and took place in the national parliament. Representatives of the parties signed a joint declaration that not only reaffirms the parties' friendship but also their unity on a range of complex political issues. A surprisingly clear and radical manifesto was established. The hope is that this cooperation will lead to success in the EU elections and eventually result in the formation of a group in the European Parliament. For Swedish nationalism, this meeting marks a success as Sweden, for the first time, has a party represented in a leading nationalist cooperation in Europe. Free West Media was present at this historic event.
Turkey Believes Sweden Hasn’t Done Enough
Sweden will have to wait a bit longer for NATO membership, according to Turkey's Justice Minister Jilmaz Tunc. First, Sweden must extradite the "terrorists" Turkey wants and stop the desecration of the Quran.
Swedish Weapon Takes Down Russia’s Best Attack Helicopter
The Russian attack helicopter Ka-52 is considered one of the world's best and has struck fear in Ukraine, where it has hunted down tanks and other armored vehicles, often beyond the range of many light anti-aircraft systems. However, it has met its match in the Swedish air defense missile system RBS 70, which has quickly led to significant losses for the Russian helicopter forces.
The Sun Drives Earth’s Climate, Not Carbon Dioxide
Top Researchers Push Back Against Climate Lies."The correlation is as clear as day," explained the Israeli astrophysicist Nir Shaviv, who was hailed by the establishment, before his interview with Forbes was hastily deleted. What he says contradicts the climate narrative, which points to humans as responsible for Earth's climate. Shaviv firmly asserts that it is the sun that controls the climate, something that can be scientifically proven in many ways. Contrary to the popular belief, the sun's influence on Earth has, in recent years, caused unusually cold and rainy weather, a trend that solar researchers warn will worsen significantly in the coming decades. The sun has exhibited an unusually low activity since 2016, during Solar Cycle 24, which was the weakest in a century.
Strong Confidence in German AfD
Alternative for Germany (AfD) held a party conference on July 29-30 to select candidates for the upcoming EU election next year. EU Parliament member Maximilian Krah, belonging to the party's more radical, ethnonationalist faction, was appointed as the top candidate. The party's two spokespersons delivered powerful speeches criticizing the EU's failed migration policy and trade sanctions that isolate Europe and Germany from the rest of the world. They argued that it's time for the EU to return a significant portion of its power to national parliaments. However, they have dropped the demand for Germany to exit the EU.
The Establishment Wants to Ban Germany’s Second Largest Party – for the Sake of Democracy
The rising popularity of AfD has raised strong concerns within the establishment. Despite lies and demonization in the media and isolation from the overall political establishment, the party continues to grow. Certain representatives of the party are accused of becoming increasingly "extreme," and in an unusual move, the influential weekly newspaper Der Spiegel demanded that AfD be "banned."
Dutch FvD break through the media blockade
What is happening in the Netherlands? It is often difficult to follow events in other countries, especially when distorted by system media. We give Forum for Democracy (FvD) the opportunity to speak out on the political situation in the Netherlands and the staunch resistance they face in trying to save the country.
No comments.
By submitting a comment you grant Free West Media a perpetual license to reproduce your words and name/web site in attribution. Inappropriate and irrelevant comments will be removed at an admin’s discretion. Your email is used for verification purposes only, it will never be shared.