Berlusconi acted like ‘jilted lover’ after being shut out of Tony Blair talks
He was said to have been particularly ‘hurt’ as he had backed Britain and the US over the invasion of Iraq
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi acted like a “jilted lover” after being shut out of talks between Tony Blair and the leaders of France and Germany, according to newly released government files.
Papers released to the National Archives in Kew, west London, show the Italian leader was so incensed at being excluded from a trilateral summit of the three big European powers that he threatened to challenge Britain’s EU rebate at every opportunity.
He was said to have been particularly “hurt” as, unlike the French and Germans, he had backed Britain and the US over the invasion of Iraq – even going so far as to enlist the support of president George Bush to express his unhappiness.
The three-way meeting in Berlin with president Jacques Chirac and chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in February 2004 was part of a British attempt to gain traction with the two nations traditionally regarded as the main drivers of the EU.
However it went down extremely badly with some of the other member states – none more so than the Italians.
Britain’s ambassador to Rome, Sir Ivor Roberts, said he was “taken aback” at the strength of feelings when he met Mr Berlusconi’s foreign affairs adviser, Giovanni Castellaneta, for lunch ahead of an Italy-England rugby international.
“The gist of what he had to say was that Berlusconi was feeling badly let down by the prime minister,” he reported.
“He actually used the image of a jilted lover (very Berlusconi) and added that there was something of the Southern Italian about Berlusconi which made him quite vindictive when he thought his affections had been misplaced or betrayed.
“The word ‘tradito’ (betrayed) came up quite often.”
For good measure, Sir Ivor added that the Italian’s mood “will not have been lightened by the outcome of the game” – a 50-9 victory for England.
When Mr Blair held a video conference with Mr Bush the following week, a Downing Street note of the call recorded that the US president had “expressed some concern in a jokey way, on Berlusconi’s behalf, over Italy’s exclusion” from the talks in Berlin.
In the face of such concerns, Mr Blair felt it necessary to travel to Rome to personally placate the unhappy premier and assure him of his continuing support.
He was preceded in the Italian capital by his special adviser on Europe, Roger Liddle, who travelled ahead to “calm Italian nerves and pour oil on troubled waters”.
Mr Liddle reported there could be no doubt that Mr Berlusconi’s sense of hurt was genuine, with the press and opposition parties seeking to exploit his exclusion as evidence of the “failure” of his foreign policy.
“That adds to his personal sense of betrayal (‘I backed him on Iraq etc’),” he noted.
“I was deliberately and somewhat pompously threatened that Foreign Minister Frattini has issued an instruction that the future of the British rebate should be questioned at every available European meeting.
“These reactions are frankly petty, but there is a substantial problem you have to find a way round. Next week, it is no good offering Berlusconi a photo-op without substance. Equally, you can’t allow him to veto trilateralism.”
Just as the row appeared to be dying down, it flared up again with an Italian newspaper reporting that Mr Schroeder had announced a second trilateral meeting – this time in London.
In an emotional phone call, Mr Berlusconi complained to Mr Blair that the paper’s front page coverage and accompanying cartoon had “destroyed” all that his foreign policy had tried to achieve, showing Italy “had no weight in Europe”.
Mr Blair had to assure that no such meeting had been agreed, promising to instruct Sir Ivor to tell the paper that its story was wrong.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments