DPA
Rome
Leaders at home and abroad offered their condolences to Italy following the death on Monday of former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who will receive a state funeral on Wednesday at the historic Milan Cathedral.
The controversial real estate, media and football mogul who shaped Italian politics for decades, died at the age of 86, his spokesman said.
He died in hospital in Milan. Berlusconi was not in good health and had been hospitalized several times in recent years.
He was admitted to hospital on Friday for scheduled health check-ups related to his chronic leukaemia, according to the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan.
Berlusconi, who was considered a close friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was missed by the Russian leader.
“For me, Silvio was a dear person, a true friend,” Putin wrote in his condolence telegram to Italy’s President Sergio Mattarella. He had always admired Berlusconi’s far-sightedness and balanced decisions and had been infected by Berlusconi’s humour and joie de vivre at their meetings, Putin said.
Berlusconi’s death was an “irreplaceable loss and a deep misfortune,” the statement continued.
Even after Putin invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Berlusconi did not cut ties with him. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban wrote on Facebook, “The great fighter is gone!” The right-wing populist leader was among Berlusconi’s early admirers, with whom he was a personal friend.
Other condolences were more sober. European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tweeted that Berlusconi “led Italy in a time of political transition and has since moved on to shape his beloved country.”
The spokesman of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak offered a short tribute to the former Italian leader, saying, “Silvio Berlusconi made a huge impact on Italian politics over several decades and our thoughts are with the Italian people and his family.”
At home, too, praise poured in for the often controversial former Italian leader.
“He was a man who never feared to defend his convictions,” said Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni.
“This courage and this determination made him one of the most influential men in Italian history.” She described Berlusconi as “first and foremost a fighter.”
Berlusconi’s conservative Forza Italia is part of Meloni’s ruling coalition, along with the populist Lega of Matteo Salvini.
“We are today bidding farewell to a great Italian, one of the greatest of all time, in all areas, from all perspectives, incomparable,” Salvini tweeted.
