Putin, Zelensky and Berlusconi’s putinate
With Berlusconi's endorsement of Putin's theses on the aggression against Ukraine, Italy risks being a weak link in the West. Gianfranco Polillo's analysis
All respect for President Berlusconi. But the attempt made to "contextualize" his previous speech, clearly in favor of Vladimir Putin, did not convince. The facts: meeting of the deputies, at the Chamber. I invite you not to divulge what you are about to say. Speech often interrupted by applause, a clear sign of strong sharing, especially in the most controversial points. The attack on Zelensky. A little hand that records everything. The day after: diffusion through LaPresse . And finally the explosion in the world of information.
The explanation of the war in the land of Ukraine is the one repeatedly spread by the Kremlin. Berlusconi, at least in the recording that was released, does not mention the events in Majdan Square: the great demonstrations that led to the resignation and subsequent flight of the pro-Russian President Janukovyč. His narration begins with the failure of the Minsk agreements (the capital of Belarus). At that time an attempt was made to regulate relations between pro-Western and pro-Russian militants in the two oblasts of Donetsk and Lugansk.
They did not work and the result was the development of a civil war destined, in the end, to produce thousands of deaths, on both sides. It was then – according to Putin / Berlusconi double thinking – that a delegation of the pro-Russian faction turned to the new Tsar, soliciting his intervention, as a peacemaker. Various hesitations of the latter, in the end forced not to remain indifferent to the cry of pain of his brothers. And move to restore a violated sovereignty. It was supposed to be a “little girl” war, as Francesco De Gregori (baby Jesus) sang, and instead that cursed Zelensky, deciding to resist, complicated everything.
Struck by the clamor that this interpretation had raised, Berlusconi, in the phone call with Enrico Mentana, complained that those words had been taken out of context. In modern geopolitics, his explanation, the problem is to avoid a possible union between Russia and China. Intelligence would like Putin to be pushed not to break with Europe. For this it was necessary to operate. This position can only be shared in the abstract. The truth is that Putin has already decided which side to take. This is demonstrated by the annexation to Russia not only of the Donbass, but of the two further oblasts of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. That they had no relationship with the Minsk Treaty. So nothing but pacification, but pure desire to conquer.
Berlusconi's argument could not fall silent. The reactions of the entire parliamentary lineup were immediate, with the various components of the opposition in a jujube soup. Embarrassment in the parliamentary majority and within Forza Italia. With Tajani, foreign minister in pectore, forced to unmark. Two tweets a few minutes apart. In the first in defense of the Ukrainian people, along the lines of what was said a little earlier, by Gianbattista Fazzolari, the right arm of Giorgia Meloni. Ukrainians: “Heroes who do not give up in the face of the horror of war. Their deeds in defense of democracy and freedom will forever be written in history. “They deserved, therefore, the recognition bestowed on them by the European Parliament, with the awarding of the Sakharov Prize 2022.
The second to communicate that the next day he would go to the EPP summit to reaffirm the pro-Atlanticist and pro-European position of Forza Italia (of which one?), In defense of Ukraine and condemning the Russian invasion. Clear words, which have received the applause of the same exponents of the Brothers of Italy. Less convincing, on the other hand, are the attempts of Giorgio Mulé, in Bruno Vespa's parlor, to minimize. Berlusconi, according to him, was referring to the thinking of the Russians, without necessarily sharing it. Unfortunately, the audio testified something else. Licia Ronzulli's thesis is even more embarrassing: harsh condemnation of the one who had recorded and then delivered the offending speech to LaPresse . An evident fracture, which crosses the parliamentary patrol of Forza Italia.
Finally, the reaction of Giorgia Meloni and her closest entourage could not be missing. Which manifested itself in two positions. The first, from a temporal point of view, by Giovanbattista Fazzolari, as indicated above. The second, much harder, by Meloni herself. “About one thing I have been, am, and will always be clear. – he reiterated – I intend to lead a government with a clear and unequivocal foreign policy line. Italy is fully, and with its head held high, part of Europe and the Atlantic Alliance. Anyone who does not agree with this cornerstone will not be able to be part of the government, at the cost of not being a government ".
Finally, in the late evening, Silvio Berlusconi's defense. A mix of the positions expressed by Mulé and Ronzulli. They deliberately misunderstood me and for too long I have been the subject of a “dossierage” (photos and stolen recordings) unworthy of a civilized country: this is the meaning of the reply, after the inevitable declarations of Atlantic and European loyalty. However, the problem remains of how he himself was able to give credit to pseudo justifications, written in Cyrillic, that Russian propaganda, with evident success, was able to wedge into the Italian establishment and beyond. Sometimes creating simple "misinformation", others, ambiguities, as in the case of many imaginary pacifists.
In the case of Berlusconi, however, some have decided to solve the problem by throwing it into psychology: the great friendship passed with the Kremlin leader and recently renewed, with the 20 bottles of vodka, on the occasion of his last birthday. Others remember his great salesmanship. So ready to grasp that sense of fatigue that, with regard to the war, circulates in Italian public opinion. And that perhaps, with the first cold weather, it is destined to grow. Still others, in the irrepressible desire to take back the scene, not tolerating being surpassed by those he considers his own creatures. On the other hand, not very grateful.
It will certainly be so. However, such interpretations can justify a single episode. The irrepressible impulse, before a rediscovered stillness. But here we are in a succession of events. A real war that threatens to earthquake the first political government (in a long time) elected by the people, without going through parliamentary alchemy. And to top it off, a center-right government . There is therefore something that does not add up, given the stakes.
Too early to say, but the feeling is that of strong international pressure, which has for some time been concentrated on the most sensitive points of the Italian political spectrum. There is a sentence in Giorgia Meloni's statement that suggests: "Italy with us in the Government – it is said – will never be the weak link of the West, the unreliable nation so dear to many of our detractors." In other words, Italy will not go back to being a frontier land, open to raids by the great foreign powers. An element that seemed to have been acquired with the Draghi government. But that, today, someone or more than one (the silence of the League on the whole affair) would like to neutralize.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/putin-zelensky-e-le-putinate-di-berlusconi/ on Thu, 20 Oct 2022 07:57:28 +0000.