Ex-PM has leukemia
Berlusconi: “It’s tough, but…”
04/07/2023, 1:25 p.m
Silvio Berlusconi repeatedly struggles with serious health problems. Now the 86-year-old is in a clinic because of leukemia and pneumonia. But the former Prime Minister of Italy is combative.
Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who has leukaemia, has expressed confidence that he will beat the disease. “It’s tough, but I’ll make it this time too,” he was quoted as saying by the daily Il Giornale, which is part of his media empire. Even in difficult and delicate situations, he managed to get back on his feet and will “not give up” this time either. Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, a political comrade-in-arms of Berlusconi, told Rai 3 television that the 86-year-old had “recovered well and is responding well to his treatment.”
Berlusconi was admitted to the intensive care unit at the renowned San Raffaele clinic in Milan on Wednesday after complaining of breathing problems. The doctors found a “lung infection”. In the recent past, Berlusconi has repeatedly struggled with serious health problems. The multi-billionaire had open heart surgery in 2016, in 2019 for an intestinal obstruction, and in 2021 he spent more than three weeks in the hospital due to the consequences of a previous corona infection.
Berlusconi’s career marked by scandals
Berlusconi has dominated public life in Italy for decades in a variety of roles – not just as a politician, but also as a media mogul and longtime owner of football club AC Milan. He was prime minister three times between 1994 and 2011.
Berlusconi’s career has been marked by various scandals. He faced charges of multiple alleged economic and corruption offenses and his role in the notorious bunga bunga sex parties. In 2013 he was convicted of tax fraud.
The right-wing conservative Forza Italia party, founded and led by Berlusconi, has been part of the governing coalition led by far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni since October, but has lost importance in recent years. Berlusconi himself was elected to the Senate in September’s parliamentary elections.