Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi sparked outrage on social media, after his recent statements about the Russian war on Ukraine.
Silvio Berlusconi, the former Italian prime minister for three consecutive terms, said in an interview with a local channel that Russian President Vladimir Putin was pushed to invade Ukraine and aimed only at replacing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with a government of "respectable people".
Senza parole.
Nel senso che restiamo senza parole.
Mai avremmo immaginato di sentire simili parole.
pic.twitter.com/66e5bWJGsL
— Fondazione Luigi Einaudi (@fleinaudi) September 22, 2022
Politicians from several European countries, through their accounts on the communication platforms, denounced the statements of the former Italian Prime Minister.
Former French presidential candidate Yannick Gadeau said that what Berlusconi said on Rai TV was very bad, but the French right remained silent and did not issue any response.
Les propos outranciers pro-Poutine de Silvio Berlusconi, allié de la droite européenne.
Aucune reaction du #PPE ni des @lesRepublicains ?
https://t.co/TaOzg9UHjD
— Yannick Jadot (@yjadot) September 23, 2022
Italian MP Raffaella Paita described Berlusconi's statements as "shameful" and that they actually express that his party has ended and is no longer moderate as mentioned before, but rather stood on the far right in support of Putin, as she put it.