Rome (EFE) and society of the country.
The Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, has assured that with his death, “one of the most influential men in the history of Italy” disappears.
“Berlusconi was, above all, a fighter, a man who was never afraid to defend his convictions, with courage and determination,” said Meloni, an ally of the magnate in the center-right government coalition that governs the country.
His political right-hand man, former president of the European Parliament and current Italian Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, expressed his “immense pain” at his death on his social networks.
The other ally of the coalition, the far-right leader of the League, Matteo Salvini, was one of the first to join the honors, considering himself a political heir to the former Cavaliere and leader of the conservative Forza Italia.
The current vice president of the Meloni Government canceled all his events “until further notice” and remembered him as “a great man and a great Italian.”
Condolences in Europe
From the European institutions, the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, considered that Berlusconi “will not be forgotten” and highlighted his “fighter” role as “leader and protagonist” of the “center-right and politics in Italy and Europe for generations” .
The president of the European People’s Party, Manfred Weber, has assured on Twitter that “my thoughts are with his family and loved ones at this difficult time. We will not forget the energy and dedication with which he worked for his beloved Italy, for his political family and his European ideals”.
For his part, Russian President Vladimir Putin today remembered the late former Italian president as a “magnificent person” and a “true patriot”, who at the time contributed to improving relations between Russia and European countries.
In statements to public television, Putin has assured that “he was a politician of world magnitude. There aren’t many people like him left in the international arena anymore.”
The Kremlin’s number one described treating the Italian politician as a privilege and stressed that “Silvio was a great friend of the Russian people.”
The Prime Minister of Hungary, the ultranationalist Viktor Orbán, also said goodbye to one of his oldest allies, whom he considered a “great fighter”.
“The great fighter is gone,” Orbán wrote on Facebook, adding in Italian “Riposa in pace, amico mio,” meaning “Rest in peace, my friend.”
In recent years the two right-wing leaders have supported each other and ahead of the 2018 Italian elections Orbán said he hoped Berlusconi could once again occupy “government positions”, adding the slogan and name of the party the Italian led: “Forza! Italy!”.