US diplomats voiced concern over Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s ties to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and the grip of energy interests on Rome’s foreign policy, according to cables made public by WikiLeaks.
The whistleblowing Web site had previously given a flavor of the US view of Berlusconi, described in extracts as Putin’s “mouthpiece,” but what appears to be a full cable from the US embassy in Rome, published on Thursday, gives a lengthier depiction of Italy as in thrall to Moscow.
The WikiLeaks revelations have increased pressure on Berlusconi, weakened by months of scandals and party infighting. He faces a no-confidence vote in parliament this month, which could topple his center-right government.
“A foreign policy designed to deny Russia nothing” is the headline on one section of the cable from last year, which highlighted the powerful role of oil and gas group ENI and suggesting Berlusconi and associates may have profited from energy deals with Russia.
The cable says Berlusconi sidelined Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs Franco Frattini almost entirely, going directly to Putin with whom he exchanged “lavish gifts” and considered he had a personal bond.
“The basis of the friendship is hard to determine but many interlocutors have told us that Berlusconi believes that Putin, a fellow ‘tycoon,’ trusts Berlusconi more than any other European leader,” the cable from US Ambassador Ronald Spogli read.
Other cables have included comments on Berlusconi’s taste for “partying hard” and the physical toll it took, prompting denials by the prime minister’s lawyer Niccolo Ghedini, who said the accounts were just recycled gossip from left-wing newspapers.
One referred to his ducking out of a state visit by the Jordanian king, giving the impression “he was husbanding his flagging energies for a blow-out party at Putin’s private dacha.”
Spogli’s cable said Berlusconi’s aides were reluctant to challenge him but even some members of his own PDL party had expressed concern over his “giddiness about Putin.”
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has this week gone out of her way to placate Berlusconi. In an earlier cable, a US diplomat said he was dismissed by many as “feckless, vain and ineffective as a modern European leader.”
However, the leaked document shows serious concern that Berlusconi, who irritated Washington with his support for Moscow during the 2008 South Ossetia War, was working “overtime” within the EU on Moscow’s behalf.
“His overwhelming desire is to remain in Putin’s good graces, and he has frequently voiced opinions and declarations that have been passed to him directly by Putin,” the cable said.
Berlusconi, who has been in Kazakhstan for a meeting of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, said Italy’s relationship with Washington would not be affected by the reports and he denied any improper behavior.
“The United States knows very well that I have absolutely no interests with any other country, that there are no personal interests at all but that I have only acted with the interests of Italians and my country at heart,” he was quoted by Italian news agency ANSA as saying.
Leaked cables have highlighted the role allegedly played by Valentino Valentini, a Russian-speaking member of parliament who operated as Berlusconi’s “key man on Russia.”
“What he does in Moscow during his frequent visits is unclear but he is widely rumored to be looking after Berlusconi’s business interests in Russia,” one said.
Tens of thousands of Filipino Catholics yesterday twirled white cloths and chanted “Viva, viva,” as a centuries-old statue of Jesus Christ was paraded through the streets of Manila in the nation’s biggest annual religious event. The day-long procession began before dawn, with barefoot volunteers pulling the heavy carriage through narrow streets where the devout waited in hopes of touching the icon, believed to hold miraculous powers. Thousands of police were deployed to manage crowds that officials believe could number in the millions by the time the statue reaches its home in central Manila’s Quiapo church around midnight. More than 800 people had sought
DENIAL: Pyongyang said a South Korean drone filmed unspecified areas in a North Korean border town, but Seoul said it did not operate drones on the dates it cited North Korea’s military accused South Korea of flying drones across the border between the nations this week, yesterday warning that the South would face consequences for its “unpardonable hysteria.” Seoul quickly denied the accusation, but the development is likely to further dim prospects for its efforts to restore ties with Pyongyang. North Korean forces used special electronic warfare assets on Sunday to bring down a South Korean drone flying over North Korea’s border town. The drone was equipped with two cameras that filmed unspecified areas, the General Staff of the North Korean People’s Army said in a statement. South Korea infiltrated another drone
COMMUNIST ALIGNMENT: To Lam wants to combine party chief and state presidency roles, with the decision resting on the election of 200 new party delegates next week Communist Party of Vietnam General Secretary To Lam is seeking to combine his party role with the state presidency, officials said, in a move that would align Vietnam’s political structure more closely to China’s, where President Xi Jinping (習近平) heads the party and state. Next week about 1,600 delegates are to gather in Hanoi to commence a week-long communist party congress, held every five years to select new leaders and set policy goals for the single-party state. Lam, 68, bade for both top positions at a party meeting last month, seeking initial party approval ahead of the congress, three people briefed by
Cambodia’s government on Wednesday said that it had arrested and extradited to China a tycoon who has been accused of running a huge online scam operation. The Cambodian Ministry of the Interior said that Prince Holding Group chairman Chen Zhi (陳志) and two other Chinese citizens were arrested and extradited on Tuesday at the request of Chinese authorities. Chen formerly had dual nationality, but his Cambodian citizenship was revoked last month, the ministry said. US prosecutors in October last year brought conspiracy charges against Chen, alleging that he had been the mastermind behind a multinational cyberfraud network, used his other businesses to launder
RSS