Berlusconi 'defends values of freedom'

Capping a two-day visit to the United States, Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi received an award for “defending the values of freedom” through his staunch support of the US-led war in Iraq.

Upon accepting the Intrepid Freedom award last night at a gala dinner aboard the USS Intrepid, a World War II aircraft carrier anchored in New York, Berlusconi called on all democratic nations to meet their “duty to stay with America to advance this war for our freedom, for the freedom of everybody”.

Past recipients of the award, presented by the foundation to a “leader who has distinguished himself in promoting and defending the values of freedom and democracy”, include former US presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush, British premier Margaret Thatcher and the late Israeli premier Yitzhak Rabin.

“We are all Italians this evening,” said Bill White, President of the Intrepid Foundation.

To a standing ovation, Berlusconi dedicated his award to American and Italian soldiers who have died fighting in Iraq and in Afghanistan.

But some of Berlusconi’s critics scoffed at the award, saying the decline of press freedoms in Italy under Berlusconi’s leadership have undermined democracy in his home turf.

Berlusconi’s opponents have long pointed to the conflicts of interest between his public office and his private holdings as a media mogul. He is Italy’s richest man, and is the owner of a media empire that includes three of the country’s largest private television networks and their advertising arm, the largest book and magazine publishing group, the largest film production company, and as head of the government has substantial control of the three state television networks.

This has resulted in a press that is “only partially free”, said author and journalist Alexander Stille, a professor of journalism at Columbia University.

“It’s human nature not to bite the hand that feeds. The people who work for state TV and the networks he owns know whose hand feeds them and they don’t bite that hand,” Stille said in a telephone interview.

Berlusconi’s visit to the US came just six weeks ahead of the April 9 election, as polls show Berlusconi’s centre-right coalition lagging behind the centre-left L’Unione coalition headed by Romano Prodi, a former premier and former European Commission president.

Speaking to reporters after the Intrepid dinner, Berlusconi said the gap in the race had narrowed to a tie. When asked if the US visit had been beneficial to his campaign, he answered, “Let’s hope so.”