Opponents and supporters of Silvio Berlusconi paid tribute to this personality who dominated Italian politics and passed away today at the age of 86while Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who is also the national coordinator of Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party, will cut short his mission in Washington, where he is for institutional meetings.
Former Prime Minister and former European Commission President Romano Prodi was one of the first to greet his former political rival.
“I join in the deep condolences for the death of Silvio Berlusconi,” Prodi said of the Forza Italia leader. “I remember him as a political leader who, during his long and intense period of public engagement, exerted a great influence on life in our country, affecting not only the institutions, but also the lives of all citizens. We represented different and opposite worlds, but our rivalry never became personal and the conversation remained in the realm of mutual respect. I appreciate his support of the European cause, not least because it has been confirmed and reiterated at a time when our common European destiny has been harshly and unwisely put on the docket. My deepest condolences to his family and all his loved ones.”
Defense Minister Guido Crosetto, a top figure in Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Forza Italia-allied Adelphia Italia (FdI) party, said Berlusconi’s death marked the “end of an era”.
It causes “great, great grief. He leaves a huge void because he was a great man. An era is over, an era is closing. I loved him very much. Farewell Silvio,” Crosetto wrote.
Secretary of the center-left Democratic Party Ellie Schlein also expressed her party’s “deepest condolences”.
“We want to express our sympathy for the pain of his family, his loved ones and all of Forza Italia, as well as the government and the majority forces,” Schlein said in a statement.
“With the death of Silvio Berlusconi, an era closes. Everything separated us and separates us from his political vision, but the human respect for a person who was the protagonist of our country’s history remains. Deepest condolences from the Democratic Party,” the statement read.
Former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, leader of the centrist Viva Italia party, said Berlusconi “wrote the history of this country”.
“Many loved him, many hated him: everyone must recognize that his impact on our political life, as well as in the spheres of economics, sports and television, was unprecedented,” Renzi said via social networking sites.
“Today Italy mourns together with his family, his loved ones, his party.”
According to sources, Silvio Berlusconi’s funeral will probably take place in Milan’s cathedral.
The relevant decision will be formalized as soon as it is announced that his funeral will be held at public expense.
Source: News Beast
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