BERLUSCONI'S LATEST

by MONITOR
FOR a time, way back, Silvio Berlusconi was a figure of fun, bringing some light relief to the ponderous proceedings of international diplomacy. But now he is a simply ridiculous figure whose problems over his social behaviour are apparently affecting his judgement on more serious matters. Earlier this week, while attending the Polish commemorations of the 70th anniversary of World War Two, he told a press conference that Italy would “block the functioning of the European Council of ministers” if his complaint about a press briefing by a Brussels spokesman was not addressed. The spokesman had done no more than inform the press that a meeting of the EU Commission on immigration questions had decided to ask the Italian government to explain why it had returned 70 African refugees to Libya without giving them the opportunity to explain why they wanted refuge. To Mr Berlusconi this purely factual statement by an experienced EU spokesman was “unacceptable” because, among other things, it had given the Italian opposition an opportunity to attack him. He insisted that only the President of the Commission or his spokesman could brief the press - an arrangement that would bring EU-media communications to a standstill even if there were any merit in it. “Otherwise,“ he said, “We will suspend our vote and thereby block the functioning of the EU.” Sad, really.