L’addio a Silvio – “Farewell, Silvio” – made headlines in Italian newspapers. Thousands of people came to say goodbye to the nation’s favorite in Duomo Square, at Milan’s famous cathedral.
Wednesday has been declared a national day of mourning. The President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, members of the government and party representatives came to honor the memory of the master of Italian and international politics. Among the first people from foreign states is Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. At the same time, according to presidential aide Yuri Ushakov, the Russian side was not invited to Berlusconi’s funeral.
According to the protocol, the coffin is accompanied by six carabinieri. Giant monitors are installed at the entrance to the cathedral. The capacity of the Duomo is no more than 2,000 people, which is significantly less than the actual number of people filling the very heart of Milan. The show was also aired on the country’s central television channels. People hold in their hands national flags, Berlusconi Forward Italy party symbols and AC Milan club flags, in which Silvio put his heart and soul.
“He was full of ideas and had the desire to do his best for Italy. He helped establish contact between Bush and Putin. He said no to Sarkozy and Merkel, and we know how they got on. avenged on him. He said, “The Italians always come first. My country always comes first.” He inherited this resilience from his family and passed it on to the younger generation,” explains Giuseppe Lardieri, vice-president of the Forza Italia party in Milan.
The younger generation hold a canvas with the politician’s signature slogan: ‘Italy is the country I love’. Moreover, many of these guys were already born around the time of Berlusconi’s last term.
“It was the first sentence with which Berlusconi opened his speech in 1994, when he first entered politics. “Italy is the country I love.” Despite the fact that I am young, I follow politics, and for that I have to say thank you to him”, confides one of the young people.
On the eve of the official farewell ceremony, Milan covered with heavy rain. But that didn’t stop the flood of Italians devoted to Berlusconi’s cause from coming to his villa in Arcore, just below the capital. “Thank you for the enthusiasm you gave us” – the signature on a white cloth left by someone. There are also handwritten notes. By the way, the former Prime Minister always found the time to read the letters that people sent to him.
“He was able to communicate well with everyone. Both with ordinary people and with the powerful of this world. I think that’s exactly why a lot of people loved him,” says the Italian.
“Berluskonism” is a whole current, a tsunami that has covered the republic. So extraordinary was the former prime minister. How many conflicting opinions and disputes were generated by his actions, but they all agreed on one thing: he managed to fall in love with the Italians. About his life, although with the prefix that the plot is fiction, a film was made by the legendary director Paolo Sorrentino, thus perpetuating the name of the politician.
“He was a great dreamer and he always believed in the realization of his ideas. Nobody could have imagined that he would succeed in politics, that he would create his own party and win the most elections in the history of Italy. He really personified Italy and Italians,” says Flavio Basari, CEO of an Italian pharmaceutical company.
The activities of the parliament, of which Berlusconi again became a member after the September elections, have in fact been suspended in the country. All events on outgoing Prime Minister Georgie Meloni’s schedule have been cancelled. State flags fly at half mast not only in the republic itself, but also outside – in the buildings of foreign diplomatic missions. Moscow is no exception. The Italian Embassy in Russia also expressed its condolences.
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