Berlusconi must answer for his Minsk statements to parliament

Italian opposition leaders expressed their serious concern over the visit of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to Belarus to meet dictator Lukashenka.

Italian oppositionists say this question will be raised officially in the parliament, writes La Stampa, the newspaper, Alyaksandr Lukashenka gave an interview to last week, AFN news agency reports.

“I was deeply concerned over the fact that our prime minister decided to pay an official visit to Belarus after dictator Lukashenka had come to power. But this concern turned to be nothing to the anxiety I felt when reading about the exaggerated praises our premier gave to Lukashenka for his popularity and public support,” leader of the Union of Christian Democrats (UDC) Pier Ferdinando Casini said.

“Good luck to you and your people, who love you; the election results we see prove this,” Berlusconi said yesterday in Minsk.

“In this respect I am going to file an official request to the parliament speaker in order Berlusconi to explain to the parliament what new trends in Italy’s foreign policy are based on,” Casini added.

Piero Fassino, the leader of the Democrats of the Left and Italian Shadow Minister of Foreign Affairs, shares the position of Casini.

“The superficial knowledge of the situation in the world puzzles. This proves the Italian leadership doesn’t have a clear vision on foreign policy,” Fassino said commenting on the visit of the Italian PM to Belarus.

“Anyone watching the events in Belarus knows how controversial Lukashenka and his governing style are for the international community,” the politician emphasized.

“The government must give a transparent explanation of the aim of the PM’s visit to Belarus. As it hasn’t done this, my duty is, at least, to address the parliament on that issue,” Fassino concluded.