Putin’s vodka gift to Berlusconi breaks EU sanctions and causes row in Rome

Silvio Berlusconi, 86, and his girlfriend Marta Fascina, 32, following a meeting of his Forza Alliance party this week (EPA)

A birthday present of 20 bottles of vodka from Vladimir Putin to Silvio Berlusconi breached European Union sanctions imposed after the Russian leader’s invasion of Ukraine – and has prompted fears about the make-up of Italy’s next government.

The ruling by the European Commission comes as the veteran, controversial Italian leader is, once again, a leading player in Italian politics, raising concerns over whether the West should share intelligence about the Ukraine war with Berlusconi.

“For my birthday he sent me 20 bottles of vodka and a very sweet letter,” said Berlusconi, who turned 86 last month.

He also said, in leaked tapes, that he had “reconnected” with the Russian leader. Previously, he had claimed that Putin was pushed into war in Ukraine, and now the comments are having repercussions for Rome and the rest of Europe.

An EU sanctions package agreed in April extended an import ban for Russian goods to include spirits, including vodka, an EC spokesperson said in a statement, adding there was no exemption for gifts.

However, it is up to individual EU member states to implement the sanctions, they said, and it was not immediately clear if any action would be taken to pursue the case by Italian authorities.

Italy has backed the West’s approach to the war in Ukraine, though concerns have grown since far-right Giorgia Meloni won a general election in September and is expected to be Italy’s next prime minister.

Her Brothers of Italy party was the leading player in a coalition comprising the League, headed by Matteo Salvini, and Berlusconi’s Forza Italia.

The coalition is now trying to form a government and Meloni has said she will continue to support the West’s stance over the war. But splits are emerging between the coalition members as they try to form a government and fill key posts.

Italy’s president Sergio Mattarella started formal consultations with political leaders on Thursday with the aim of forming a new government.

But a spat over Russia between Meloni and Berlusconi, who bills himself as the most moderate leader of their potential alliance, could complicate matters.

Mattarella has started sounding out parliamentary and party leaders by receiving the new leader of the Italian Senate – and co-founder of Meloni’s party – Ignazio La Russa.

La Russa described his 15-minute session with Mattarella as cordial, but gave no details.

Throughout campaigning for the 25 September election, Berlusconi insisted he was an unwavering champion of Nato and the United States. But the tapes – and the decision of the European Commission – regarding Berlusconi’s take on the Ukraine war, seemed to reveal otherwise.

In an interview published Thursday in Italy’s Corriere della Sera newspaper, Berlusconi accused the media of “distorted and frankly ridiculous interpretations of my thought” on Russia and Ukraine.

He denied trying to justify Russia’s invasion.

“On the contrary, I reiterate, for the latest, and I hope, last time, that my position coincides absolutely with that of the Italian government, of the European Union, of the (Nato) Atlantic Alliance, of our American allies, and it’s a clear-cut condemnation of the military attack against a free and sovereign State,” the newspaper quoted the former premier as saying.

President Putin and former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi in the Black Sea port of Sevastopol in 2015 (Ria Novosti/AFP via Getty Images)

Meloni threw down a gauntlet to Berlusconi with a Wednesday night statement in which she said there was no room for foreign policy differences in the government she intends to lead.

“Whoever isn’t in agreement with this cornerstone, will not be able to be part of the government, even if it means no government,” she said.

Berlusconi has pushed for a top aide, former European Parliament president Antonio Tajani, to become the foreign minister in a Meloni government.

It wasn’t immediately clear if Berlusconi‘s sympathy toward Putin had eliminated that option.

Tajani wasted no time in trying to control any damage. He tweeted he would be attending the summit of the European People’s Party, a conservative political grouping that includes Forza Italia, on Friday.

At that forum, he said he would confirm his and his party’s support for Ukraine. “In every institutional venue, we have always supported freedom and condemned the Russian invasion,” Tajani wrote.