The French president and the US secretary of state sent condolences to Italy, while the Russian president called the late Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi a "true friend".
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| (06.13) Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. (Source: Xinhua News Agency) |
The French president and the US secretary of state sent condolences to Italy, while the Russian president called the late Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi a "true friend".
On June 12, a spokesperson for the Italian government announced: "(Italy) has just declared a national day of mourning on June 14." Public buildings in Italy and Europe flew flags at half-mast from June 12.
Italian President Sergio Mattarella stated that Silvio Berlusconi had "left a profound mark on the history of our Republic" and was "a key figure in many periods of Italian politics and the Republic's political system."
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said that Silvio Berlusconi was “a man who never wavered in defending his commitments… It was that courage that made him one of the most important figures in Italian history.” Former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi praised Silvio Berlusconi’s “creative spirit, always striving for innovation.”
Throughout the day, leaders from many countries around the world also expressed their condolences on the passing of this politician .
Representing the Vatican , Pope Francis sent a message of condolence to the Berlusconi family, expressing “deep sympathy for the loss of a key figure in Italian politics, who held many important positions with a positive energy.”
Writing on Twitter , European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen assessed that Berlusconi had “led Italy through a period of transition and continued to shape his beloved country in the period that followed.”
Sending his condolences to the people of Italy and the family of Silvio Berlusconi, French President Emmanuel Macron praised the politician as an important figure in modern Italy who always strived to strengthen relations between the two countries.
Meanwhile, speaking at a press conference the same day with his Italian counterpart Antonio Tajani in Washington DC, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said: “He (the late Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi) was clearly an extremely important figure in Italian life, both politically and socially.”
For his part, in a condolence message sent to Italy, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated: “For me, Mr. Berlusconi was a dear man, a true friend. I have always sincerely admired him for his wisdom, his ability to make balanced, far-sighted decisions even in the most difficult situations.” The leader affirmed that on the international stage today, there are not many politicians who can match the late Italian Prime Minister.
On the same day, speaking on the Russian channel Russia-24 , Putin stated that Berlusconi was the father of cooperation mechanisms between Russia and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The Russian leader remarked that the late Italian Prime Minister was "a great friend of the Russian people and did a great deal to establish business and friendly relations between Russia and European countries."
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