Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, 86, has chronic leukemia and a lung infection, doctors said Thursday, the day after he was hospitalized in intensive care for breathing difficulties. Silvio Berlusconi “is currently in intensive care to treat a lung infection”. This infection is part of “chronic myelomonocytic leukemia which he has suffered for some time”, they say in a press release.
Foreign Minister Tajani, a member of Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party, told Rai Uno radio he had spoken to the tycoon’s doctor. “He told me that Silvio Berlusconi had had a quiet night and that his condition was stable,” said Antonio Tajani. The main Italian daily, Il Corriere della Sera, claims for his part, without citing sources, that Silvio Berlusconi suffers from leukemia. Silvio Berlusconi was rushed to hospital on Wednesday after complaining of breathing difficulties and low blood oxygen levels, which put a strain on his cardiovascular and respiratory systems, the authorities reported. Italian media.
Four days of hospitalization last month
Last month, the billionaire leader of the right-wing Forza Italia party had already spent four days in the same hospital for what Italian media called heart problems, before being discharged from hospital last Thursday. “I have already started to work again (…) ready and determined to commit myself, as I have always done, for the country I love,” he said in a message published on Friday on the networks. social. On Sunday, he posted a picture of himself smiling in front of a sprawling bed of tulips at his villa in Arcore in northern Italy.
After dominating Italian politics for decades, the “Cavaliere” now appears physically diminished on the rare occasions he appears in public. Long gone are the days of his infamously erotic “bunga bunga” parties with young starlets. Forza Italia is a member of the right-wing and far-right government coalition of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who tweeted to her ally on Wednesday her “sincere and affectionate wishes for a speedy recovery”.
A sincere and affettuoso augurio di pronta guarigione a Silvio Berlusconi, ricoverato al San Raffaele di Milano. Forza Silvio.
— Giorgia Meloni (@GiorgiaMeloni) April 5, 2023
Silvio Berlusconi entered politics in 1994 and, for millions of Italians, he represents the golden age of the Italian economy. Despite a series of sex scandals and court cases that tarnished his image, he has held a special place in the hearts of many Italians ever since.