Berlusconi, King Abdullah and Foreign Matters

Rome, 21/10/2009, (Media & Communication Directorate – Royal Hashemite Court) — Their Majesties King Abdullah and Queen Rania on Wednesday visited the municipality of Rome, where they were received by Mayor Gianni Alemanno and his wife Isabella Rauti.

Their Majesties, who arrived in Rome on Monday on a state visit upon an invitation from Italian President Giorgio Napolitano and his wife, also visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Rome, where the King laid a wreath. Italian Minister of Defence Ignazio La Russa and several senior Italian army officers received the King and the Queen at the memorial.

Also Wednesday, the King received a telephone call from Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi during which they discussed several issues of mutual concern, especially efforts to realise peace in the Middle East and means to enhance bilateral ties. King Abdullah and Berlusconi agreed to postpone a meeting that was planned for Wednesday due to conditions relating to the Italian premier.

The meeting will be held in Amman at a later date.

MOSCOW, Russia (Times Online) –  Mr Berlusconi telephoned the King to cancel the meeting. Aides to the Prime Minister said he was suffering from a “slight indisposition”.

Silvio Berlusconi was accused of spurning a chance to help the Middle East peace process last night after apparently snubbing the King of Jordan in favour of a party with his old friend Vladimir Putin.

Opposition politicians in Rome demanded to know why the Prime Minister had cancelled a meeting with King Abdullah, choosing instead to fly to St Petersburg to discuss energy projects between Russia and the EU — and, it was alleged, to attend a private party in honour of Mr Putin’s 57th birthday on October 7. La Repubblica newspaper reported that Mr Berlusconi would “carry fine wines” as a gift for Mr Putin.

Berlusconi’s visit to Moscow

Silvio Berlusconi’s rightwing allies in the European parliament defeated – by a single vote– a Liberal Democrat resolution calling for freedom of the media in Italy and throughout the EU. But it is worth noting both the significance of that lost vote and the role that British MEPs played in it. The Italian prime minister controls private and public media in Italy to a degree that would have turned Erich Honecker green with envy. That’s why Italian citizens are looking to the EU to uphold their right to freedom of expression. Instead, the European parliament has handed Berlusconi an apparent fig leaf of legitimacy and an undoubted political and media coup.