Conservatives rally behind Berlusconi

Conservatives in the European Parliament today rallied to support controversial Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi, blocking demands that he formally apologise for a Nazi jibe to a German MEP.

After two hours of crisis talks, party leaders in the EU assembly instead agreed that Parliament President Pat Cox should speak to the billionaire media tycoon again to seek a “fair and balanced solution”.

Berlusconi sparked uproar in Strasbourg yesterday when he reacted to criticism from Martin Schulz by saying the MEP would be “perfect” to play the role of a concentration camp commandant in a film being made in Italy about the Nazis.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder demanded Berlusconi apologise, saying the comparison was “inappropriate and completely unacceptable”.

It unleashed a hail of criticism across the continent just a day after Italy took over the six month rotating presidency of the European Union.

But conservatives allied to Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party deflected left wing demands for a formal apology from the Italian premier.

Conservative leader, German Hans-Gert Poettering, said he “regretted” the incident but defended Berlusconi by saying Schulz’s should apologise for his “unacceptable” criticism of the Italian government.

Berlusconi refused to retract his comments when asked by Cox yesterday, saying he had made nothing more than an “ironic joke”.

Cox’s spokeswoman said the agreement by party leaders effectively meant he would again ask Berlusconi to say sorry.

But a spokesman for the conservative group said Cox’s mission would not be to insist on a formal apology.

“There is no demand for an apology,” said Robert Fitzhenry. “Cox should explore what is possible beyond that.”

The Socialists had demanded an official apology not just to Schulz but to the parliament as a whole.

“Either there is an apology or relations between the parliament and the presidency will be poisoned,” said British Labour MEP Gary Titley.

Back in Rome, Berlusconi showed no signs of backing down today.

Instead, he accused Italy’s left wing opposition of inspiring the personal criticism that prompted his outburst.

During a question and answer session, MEP Schulz had mentioned the Italian premier’s use of an immunity law to sidestep bribery charges in a Milan court

Schulz also criticised statements on illegal immigration by members of the Italian government.

Berlusconi snapped back: “Mr Schulz, I know there is a producer in Italy who is making a film on the Nazi concentration camps. I will suggest you for the role of commandant. You would be perfect.”

Italy’s richest man later tried to shrug the matter off, saying his “ironic joke” was never meant to be offensive.

The Italian prime minister said he would phone Chancellor Schroeder today, after which he expected the matter to be closed.

European Parliament officials admitted that the assembly had little power to sanction him, and the EU’s head office refused to be drawn into the crisis.

European Commission President Romano Prodi, an Italian and long-time political foe of Berlusconi, is due to head a EU team for talks with the Italian leader tomorrow in Rome.

He avoided any comment on the furore.

But Commission spokesman Reijo Kemppinen, after half an hour of evasions, eventually told a daily briefing: “This is a very serious incident and naturally everybody here and everybody in the Commission would have preferred that it had not happened.”