Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email to get exclusive US coverage and analysis delivered to your inbox
Get our free Inside Washington email
Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi made his first public statements since being hospitalized a month ago, delivering a video address to his Forza Italia political party on Saturday.
Berlusconi, who appeared in the video sitting at a desk set up inside the hospital and flanked by Italian and EU flags, received a standing ovation from the party congress in Milan. The 86-year-old three-time former prime minister and media mogul noted it was the first time since he was hospitalized that he was wearing a coat and jacket.
Berlusconi told party members that Forza Italia is “an essential and loyal pillar” of the ruling majority led by Giorgia Meloni’s far-right Italy Brothers, and said he was proud of the government’s achievements so far, including the reduction of payroll taxes.
Berlusconi was hospitalized at Milan’s San Raffaele Hospital with a lung infection on April 5, and doctors later revealed he also had chronic leukemia.
His party is the smallest in Meloni’s coalition, which also includes Matteo Salvini’s League. Berlusconi has a seat in the Senate, but no cabinet.
