If there was ever any doubt that Silvio Berlusconi would make an awkward “junior” partner in Italy’s next government, it was dispelled in sensational fashion this week as the octogenarian former premier was recorded boasting that he exchanged gifts of vodka, wine and “sweet” letters with Russia’s Vladimir Putin – earning rebukes from both Brussels and his coalition partner, Italy’s likely next leader Giorgia Meloni.
Berlusconi’s latest gasconade, which his Forza Italia party sought to deny at first, was confirmed in an audio recording published late on Tuesday by Italy’s La Presse news agency.
