Silvio Berlusconi backs Blair for European President

The embattled Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, has taken the time to declare his support for Tony Blair becoming European President through a letter published on the front page of a small circulation newspaper in Milan, Il Foglio (of which, according to The Times, his estranged wife is the largest stakeholder and one of his former government spokesmen the editor).

It reads:

“Tony Blair has got everything it needs to become the first president of the European Council... He has everything it needs to be designated to that role, as soon as it will be judicially and politically possible... In agreement with many other heads of government, and heads of state, and in co-ordination with the powers of the European Parliament, my Government and I will work to ensure we do not lose a great political legacy, made with courage, equilibrium and prudence without uncertainty.”

That translated version is from The Times; Il Foglio's original in Italian is here.

The role of European Council President will not of course exist until such a time as the Lisbon Treaty is passed into law in the Czech Republic...

Jonathan Isaby