Sunday, February 26, 2006

Italy: Berlusconi, Up Close and Personal


"They said I compared myself to Napoleon ..."

Do you think Berlusconi will win the Italian elections on April 9? He does. Watch for much, much more from our 90 minute exclusive interview and a whole new take on Italian politics in coming issues of Newsweek.

"...They said I compared myself to Napoleon. In fact, I was on television reading the ten legal codes we’ve reformed, and when I got to the seventh, the host tried to stop me. I was laughing and smiling, but I said let me read them because only Napoleon did more than we did. So I didn’t say, 'I’m like Napoleon.'"

"Winston Churchill?"
I was in a region where there are many communists, in a big soccer stadium. Some young people got on stage with a big banner that read ‘Churchill saved us from the Nazis, Silvio will save us from communism.’ They [the press] made it up that I was comparing myself to Churchill. In any case, [unlike Churchill] I don’t drink, I don’t smoke."

"Jesus Christ? ..."

Newsweek: Sex, Religion & Politics 26 Feb 2006
Ahead of his visit to the White House, Italy's prime minister explains some nutty rumors to NEWSWEEK. (This was a brief through-written profile of Berlusconi for American readers.)

Newsweek International: Italy's 'Povero Cristo' 26 Feb 2006
Embattled yet still flamboyant, Silvio Berlusconi gleefully takes on his critics, real and imaginary. (A more complete text of the interview for International audiences.)

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