Italy acknowledges Putin criticism

Italy today acknowledged Russian president Vladimir Putin, challenged by EU leaders on his country’s human rights record during a summit last week, struck back at his critics, saying “Mafia is not a Russian word".

The incident, which came during a one-day summit on energy, underscored the EU’s concerns over Russia’s commitment to democracy.

Italy said that the European Union would not be deterred in keeping up its pressure on Moscow.

“Not for this will we stop, with great respect for Russia, to pose problems that we believe are fair as far as Chechnya and freedom of the press are concerned,” Italian foreign minister Massimo D’Alema was quoted as saying today by the Apcom news agency.

According to reports in the European media, Putin faced questions during a EU dinner Friday night on the state on democracy in Russia.

“As far as we know president Putin, speaking about criminality, did effectively criticise some European countries,” according to a statement issued by Italian premier Romano Prodi’s office in response to the reports yesterday.