Berlusconi goes vegetarian over animal welfare concerns

Former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has adopted a vegetarian diet according to reports in the Italian media.

Published: 23 February 2016 12:09 CET

Berlusconi goes vegetarian over animal welfare concerns

Silvio Berlusconi has converted to vegetarianism. Photo: Tiziana Fabi/AFP

Berlusconi, who will be 80 in September, allegedly converted to vegetarianism after reading up on the meat industry.

The first indication of his new diet came last week during a meeting with regional co-ordinators from his Forza Italia Party.

“When I read about how animals suffer on their way to the slaughterhouse and death I no longer had any desire to eat meat,” Corriere della Sera reported him as saying.

“We are talking about wonderful creatures – how can you kill and eat them?”

Billionaire Berlusconi has also communicated his decision to kitchen staff.

According to Corriere he recently told cooks at his plush Villa San Martino in Arcore, Lombardy – the scene of his infamous bunga bunga parties – that the menu had to change.

The leader reportedly implored them to find a way to make his much-loved pasta sauce according to a vegetarian recipe.

“We need to do something about ragu,” he said, adding that his cooks should “avoid making it with meat” from now on.

Berlusconi's new diet might mean his centre-right Forza Italia Party changes position on environmental issues.

Recently, the former leader surprised political analysts saying “the defence of animals and the environment are fundamental principles of the party” during a speech to endorse party candidate Stefano Parisi's election campaign for the Milan mayor's office.

In dedicating himself to a life without meat, Berlusconi joins a long list of political figures and celebrities to adopt a vegetarian lifestyle, which includes luminaries like Mahatma Gandhi, Paul McCartney and Tolstoy – but vegetarianism might not be enough to improve his reputation.

On Monday, an important youth movement of the Forza Italia party, Azzurra Libertà, announced that their 30,000 members were abandoning the party due to the negative influence of Berlusconi's scandal-ridden private life on their image.

Whether a political choice or not, Berlusconi's decision makes him one of a growing number of people in Italy adopting a meat-free diet.

Data from a Eurispes study shows that eight percent of all Italians are vegetarian – a figure which has grown by 2.3 percent over the last year.

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The strike comes after Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama — who is close to Meloni — called a top RAI editor to complain about a television report into Italy’s controversial migration deal with his country.

The Usigrai trade union called the strike from May 6 to May 7 saying talks with management had failed to address their concerns.

It cited numerous issues, including staff shortages and contract issues, but in first place was “the suffocating control over journalistic work, with the attempt to reduce RAI to a megaphone for the government”.

It had already used that phrase to object to what critics say is the increasing influence over RAI by figures close to Prime Minister Meloni, who leads Italy’s most right-wing government since World War II.

However, another union of RAI journalists, Unirai, said they would not join what they called a “political” strike, defending the return to “pluralism” at the broadcaster.

Funded in part by a licence fee and with top managers long chosen by politicians, RAI’s independence has always been an issue of debate.

But the arrival in power of Meloni — leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy party, who formed a coalition with Matteo Salvini’s far-right League party and the late Silvio Berlusconi’s right-wing Forza Italia — redoubled concerns.

Tensions erupted at the weekend amid accusations RAI censored a speech by a leading writer criticising Meloni ahead of Liberation Day on April 25, when Italians mark the defeat of Fascism and the Nazis at the end of World War II.

Both RAI’s management and Meloni have denied censorship, and the premier posted the text of the monologue on her social media.

In another twist, Albania’s premier confirmed Thursday he called senior RAI editor Paolo Corsini about an TV report on Sunday into Italy’s plans to build two migration processing centres on Albanian territory.

Rama told La Stampa newspaper the report was “biased” and contained “lies” – adding that he had not raised the issue with Meloni.

The Report programme claimed the costs of migrant centres, which are under construction, were already “out of control” and raised questions about criminals benefiting from the project.