Italy-Russia summit agrees to economic deal amid shadow of US cables
Top government leaders of Italy and Russia met today to strengthen relationships between the two countries, amid the storm fuelled by the release of the US cables, depicting private interests and “machoist attitudes” as the basis of the two Prime Ministers’ friendship.
Meeting today in Sochi, the largest Russian resort city on the shore of the Black Sea, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and his government delegation met with its Russian colleagues, headed by Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin, to “enhance the Rome-Moscow cooperation”.
The summit started with a talk between Italian minister of productive activities, Mr Romani, and the Russian minister for energy, Mr Phmatko.
Over the course of the meeting, new business deals have been agreed upon, which will involve Italian companies and banks to work in partnership with their Russian counterparts.
Among the agreements is a “memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the electric power field, between ENEL [Italian company] and the stock company Inter Rao Ees”, reads a government note.
The note states that, from now on, Italian military personnel and equipment on its way to Afghanistan will be granted transit through Russian territory via train.
“Russia is a privileged partner of Italy,” said an Italian government spokesperson to The Fresh Outlook. “From an economic perspective, the commercial interchange [between the countries] has recorded a 17 per cent rise this year, compared to 2009.”
2011, he added, will be the year celebrating both the Italian language and culture in Russia, and the Russian language and culture in Italy.
Mr Berlusconi and his close entourage in Russia hope that the economic agreements that have been pulled out of today’s summit will help the government win back some of its lost popularity – with polls showing people’s support at an all time low.
Criticism against his leadership as head of the Italian government has come from the centre-left opposition, but also from Mr Berlusconi’s former right-hand person, Gianfranco Fini, who recently quit the majority coalition and is now building a new group.
Arriving yesterday at the hotel in Sochi, where the Italo-Russian summit is taking place, Mr Berlusconi briefly commented that he is not taking any step back and has “no intention of giving in to the pressures [asking for] his resignation”.
Commenting on the current situation in the country, he added that having a different government from the one that was voted in by the citizens, would, de facto constitute a coup.
The trust on the coalition government, mainly centred around the figure of the Prime Minister, which has been wearing out quickly over the last few months, was given another hard blow by the latest WikiLeaks revelations.
With the Italian parliament due to give the confidence vote to the government on December 14, the Italian PM is trying everything he can to get the party back on its feet.
The other non-written hope of the summit is, needless to say, to clear the mist created by the revelations of the US embassy cables. In the documents, PM Vladimir Putin is described as “the alpha male” by US diplomats, whereas Mr Berlusconi is seen as “incapable and untrustworthy”.
The US ambassadors in Rome and Moscow wrote to Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, that Mr Berlusconi “sees himself as Putin’s spokesman in Europe”, making it clear that he is actually not, although he believes so. Tellingly enough, Russia is described as a “mafia state”, with Italy depicted as the opportunist and ridiculous side of this duo.
And it is not over yet. The leaked cables cast a thick shadow of doubt over what is really lies behind the fraternal friendship of the two state leaders. There are allegations of private financial interests and personal gains that might involve favours and kickbacks.
Mr Berlusconi commented today that his relationship with Vladimir Putin is “in the best Italian interests”.
He initially dismissed the revelations published by WikiLeaks by saying “I laugh about it”, while many call it just top-floor gossip. The political analysts of the country, though, see beyond the mere “gossip”, stating that what the cables show is that the US do not believe in Mr Berlusconi’s political skills, let alone in his ability to run his country.
(Read the full article on The Fresh Outlook)
03.12.2010
Meeting today in Sochi, the largest Russian resort city on the shore of the Black Sea, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and his government delegation met with its Russian colleagues, headed by Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin, to “enhance the Rome-Moscow cooperation”.
The summit started with a talk between Italian minister of productive activities, Mr Romani, and the Russian minister for energy, Mr Phmatko.
Over the course of the meeting, new business deals have been agreed upon, which will involve Italian companies and banks to work in partnership with their Russian counterparts.
Among the agreements is a “memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the electric power field, between ENEL [Italian company] and the stock company Inter Rao Ees”, reads a government note.
The note states that, from now on, Italian military personnel and equipment on its way to Afghanistan will be granted transit through Russian territory via train.
“Russia is a privileged partner of Italy,” said an Italian government spokesperson to The Fresh Outlook. “From an economic perspective, the commercial interchange [between the countries] has recorded a 17 per cent rise this year, compared to 2009.”
2011, he added, will be the year celebrating both the Italian language and culture in Russia, and the Russian language and culture in Italy.
Mr Berlusconi and his close entourage in Russia hope that the economic agreements that have been pulled out of today’s summit will help the government win back some of its lost popularity – with polls showing people’s support at an all time low.
Criticism against his leadership as head of the Italian government has come from the centre-left opposition, but also from Mr Berlusconi’s former right-hand person, Gianfranco Fini, who recently quit the majority coalition and is now building a new group.
Arriving yesterday at the hotel in Sochi, where the Italo-Russian summit is taking place, Mr Berlusconi briefly commented that he is not taking any step back and has “no intention of giving in to the pressures [asking for] his resignation”.
Commenting on the current situation in the country, he added that having a different government from the one that was voted in by the citizens, would, de facto constitute a coup.
The trust on the coalition government, mainly centred around the figure of the Prime Minister, which has been wearing out quickly over the last few months, was given another hard blow by the latest WikiLeaks revelations.
With the Italian parliament due to give the confidence vote to the government on December 14, the Italian PM is trying everything he can to get the party back on its feet.
The other non-written hope of the summit is, needless to say, to clear the mist created by the revelations of the US embassy cables. In the documents, PM Vladimir Putin is described as “the alpha male” by US diplomats, whereas Mr Berlusconi is seen as “incapable and untrustworthy”.
The US ambassadors in Rome and Moscow wrote to Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, that Mr Berlusconi “sees himself as Putin’s spokesman in Europe”, making it clear that he is actually not, although he believes so. Tellingly enough, Russia is described as a “mafia state”, with Italy depicted as the opportunist and ridiculous side of this duo.
And it is not over yet. The leaked cables cast a thick shadow of doubt over what is really lies behind the fraternal friendship of the two state leaders. There are allegations of private financial interests and personal gains that might involve favours and kickbacks.
Mr Berlusconi commented today that his relationship with Vladimir Putin is “in the best Italian interests”.
He initially dismissed the revelations published by WikiLeaks by saying “I laugh about it”, while many call it just top-floor gossip. The political analysts of the country, though, see beyond the mere “gossip”, stating that what the cables show is that the US do not believe in Mr Berlusconi’s political skills, let alone in his ability to run his country.
(Read the full article on The Fresh Outlook)
03.12.2010