Berlusconi “driven” by polls and fears for the economy. But his friends run to clarify after the words on Zelensky-Corriere.it

“I think that given his age and the role Berlusconi has played, he is free to say what he thinks.” It is the day of the electoral victory of the centre-right. And they are many from Come on Italy, like Maurizio Gasparri, trying not to spoil the party by the words pronounced on Sunday, with open polls, by Silvio Berlusconi: «If I had been prime minister, I would never have gone to talk to Zelensky. It was enough for him to stop attacking the two autonomous republics of Donbass and this would not have happened. I judge this gentleman’s behavior very, very negatively.

Yesterday after an increase in contacts between Palazzo Chigi and international allies to extinguish a potential diplomatic crisis and many phone calls and contacts to defuse a government one, at the end of the evening, Berlusconi’s arrived to mark the end of hostilities. TO Giorgia Meloni it’s at Matthew Salvini, he himself let it be known, to congratulate “for the great success of the coalition in the regional elections in Lombardy and Lazio”, he announced in a note. But above all for reaffirm the cohesion of the government “which has the entire legislature as its horizon”.

All those who had been trying to clarify for the whole day breathed a sigh of relief. Giorgio Mulè had drawn a boundary between the before and after of February 24: «The before photographs an era and a moment in which the parties could and should have dialogue in different ways. Berlusconi intervenes on that stage, recognizing that with the invasion of Ukraine Russia and Putin have put themselves on the wrong side of history. And there can be no hesitation about this.” Gasparri had claimed that there was a Berlusconi former prime minister and Meloni’s ally: «We are on the side of the Ukrainian people, we voted for the measures, but there had been wars in the Donbass for years that the world should have stopped. Because then war is born from war».

The official line is drawn. Many comply. But it is the Azzurri themselves who experience the aftermath of that media “bomb” with uneasiness. A forced candidate recounts the moment of the explosion seen from the inside: “I immediately thought: ‘Here we are, now we lose.’ Then my smartphone went crazy. And phone calls from everyone to everyone began. Of course, President Berlusconi has also been called. And he too was convinced. In fact, he did not continue ».

As is well known, Berlusconi is attentive to the signs of the country, especially those found in the polls. The latter gave 3 out of 4 Italians worried about the consequences of the war. And if at the beginning 55% were in favor of sanctions and 31% against, today those in favor have dropped to 46 and against risen to 37. But with microphones off, many speak of the discomfort experienced by the Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, forced by Meloni to mediate with Berlusconi returned to sing the same themes revealed by the audios published by Lapresse in October. “I have re-established relations with Putin a lot, a lot”, the blue leader had said to the forced parliamentarians and had re-read the events in Ukraine. “The Republics of Donbass – he said – were desperate because Zelensky had thrown the Minsk agreements to hell and tripled the attacks”. So they had turned to «Vladimir» who had invented the special operation in which «the troops were to enter Ukraine, reach Kiev in a week, depose the government in office and put one of respectable people». In Forza Italia many hope it will end up like then. Controversies, clarifications and nothing more. But the bitter grimace drawn on the faces of FdI colleagues speaks volumes. «I dissociate myself from Berlusconi’s words», says Fabio Rampelli, FdI vice president of the Chamber: «He can make the utterances he wants. He also corrected them. But they don’t follow the government guidelines”