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‘Ending in the worst way’: Italian ex-PM Berlusconi condemns Trump over US Capitol attack

Former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi said on Friday that Donald Trump's time at the White House had ended in "the worst way".

'Ending in the worst way': Italian ex-PM Berlusconi condemns Trump over US Capitol attack
Silvio Berlusconi's political tactics are often seen as a model for Trump's. Photo: Tiziana Fabi/AFP

Berlusconi said “it would be unjust and uncharitable” to deny Trump's “achievements” as US President.

However, Monday's mob attack by his supporters on the US Capitol “overshadows those achievements and will darken the historical memory of this
presidency,” Berlusconi wrote in a letter to Il Giornale, a newspaper owned by Berlusconi's family company.

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“Trump's mandate is ending in the worst way,” said Berlusconi, appearing to distance his own politics from Trump's by adding: “a right that attacks the Capitol will never be our right.”
 
“This tragic episode, the American right, which reflects a widespread mood in American society, encouraged by irresponsible propaganda, is certainly not the Republican right that we have always appreciated,” Berlusconi said.
 
The violence at the Capitol, the seat of the US parliament, on Wednesday left a police officer and four others dead.
 
Flags at the US Capitol building fly at half-mast on Friday. Photo: Brendan Smialowski / AFP
 
Berlusconi, 84, is a former real estate and media mogul who reinvented himself as a conservative politician, served three times as prime minister and continues to lead the centre-right Forza Italia party.

He remains a popular public figure in Italy despite being best known in Italy and abroad for sex scandals and a tax fraud conviction.

His political tactics are often seen as a trailblazing model for Trump's.

In November, Berlusconi commented that Trump's “very often too arrogant attitude” had been to blame for his election defeat.

The attack in Washington has also been condemned by Berlusconi's ally Matteo Salvini of the hard-right League party, long an outspoken backer of Trump.

“Violence is never a solution, never. Long live freedom and democracy, always and everywhere,” Salvini tweeted.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte voiced concern about the attack on Wednesday, writing on Twitter that: “Violence is incompatible with the exercise of democratic rights and freedoms.”

 

However, Conte and other members of the current Italian government did not join some other European political leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel in directly criticising Trump and his supporters over the Capitol attack.

READ ALSO: 'We can't wait to work side by side': Italian PM sends congratulations to Joe Biden

“This tragic episode, the American right, which reflects a widespread mood in American society, encouraged by irresponsible propaganda, is certainly not the Republican right that we have always appreciated,” Berlusconi said.

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TERRORISM

Italy on maximum terror alert over Easter after Moscow attack

Italy was to increase surveillance in busy areas ahead of the Easter holidays and following the bombing of a Moscow concert hall, ministers agreed on Monday.

Italy on maximum terror alert over Easter after Moscow attack

Italy’s national committee for public security, chaired by Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, on Monday said anti-terrorism monitoring in Italy must be strengthened ahead of the Easter holidays, with more surveillance to be carried out at popular tourist spots and at “sensitive sites”.

The committee agreed on “the importance of continuing monitoring activity, including online, by police and intelligence forces for the identification of possible risk situations” in Italy, reported news agency Ansa.

The security meeting was convened following the terrorist attack in Moscow on Friday where armed men opened fire and set the building ablaze, killing at least 133 people.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani had stressed to the public on Sunday that Italy faced “no concrete risk” and said the country’s security and law enforcement services were “always on the alert to prevent any attack.”

“During the Easter holidays you will need to be very careful. We will always do the utmost to ensure the safety of citizens and tourists,” Tajani said, speaking on national broadcaster Rai’s current affairs show Restart.

READ ALSO: Terror alerts: Should I be worried about travelling to Italy?

The fight against terrorism “has nothing to do with the war in Ukraine,” the minister continued.

“We support Ukraine” as an invaded country in which international law has been violated, he said, “but as the Italian government we have expressed our condemnation of the attack [in Moscow] and closeness to the families of the victims and the survivors”.

Cabinet Secretary Alfredo Mantovano said on the same programme that the main terrorist threat Italy faced at the moment was mainly from “lone wolves” and “not so much from organised groups.”

“I believe that a group like the one that acted in the Moscow attack, which must have been trained and had logistical support, would be intercepted sooner in Italy,” he said.

“The most worrying threat” in Italy was online recruitment, he said, noting that propaganda was closely monitored.

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