Berlusconi faces MEPs’ wrath over Nazi “joke”

Date: 03/07/03

By Martin Banks and David Cronin

THE first major set piece in Italy's EU presidency descended into farce yesterday (2 July) as Silvio Berlusconi compared a German MEP to a Nazi concentration camp guard.

The insult by the head of the new EU presidency sparked a serious diplomatic row, with Germany formally protesting to Rome's envoy in Berlin.

A plea issued by the Italian premier for the Union to spurn "stagnation and fatigue" and flex its muscles on the world stage was totally overshadowed by an insult he hurled at Socialist deputy Martin Schulz during the traditional start-of-presidency debate in the European Parliament.

"I know there is a man in Italy producing a film on the Nazi concentration camps," Berlusconi remarked. "I would like to suggest you for the role of a Kapo [guard chosen from among the prisoners]. You would be perfect."

Later the billionaire media tycoon insisted the comment was intended as an ironic joke and said he had "no intention of apologizing".

Berlusconi had accused Schulz, who had condemned Italy's stance on immigration and its leader's failure to end the conflict of interests between his business and political activities, of attacking Italy as a country.

Reaction to the slur was swift and damning within the 626-member assembly. Pat Cox, the Parliament's president, said he "regretted the offence caused to our colleague Mr Schulz".

Gary Titley, leader of the UK's Labour MEPs, said Berlusconi had "dragged the office of the presidency into disrepute and provoked a serious institutional crisis within the European Union".

Daniel Cohn-Bendit, leader of the assembly's Green group, commented: "To make light of a bad joke against Schulz and to so arrogantly refuse to excuse himself means Berlusconi has understood nothing of the 50 years of effort to overcome the terrible wounds of fascism and the [Second World] War." Fellow Green MEPs had earlier protested against Berlusconi's success in evading prosecution over bribery and abuse of power charges against him by holding up banners, proclaiming "Everyone is equal before the law."

Schulz has long had an acrimonious relationship with Berlusconi, who was an MEP until his 2001 election as prime minister.

The German instigated a campaign for the lifting of Berlusconi's Parliamentary immunity in 2001, so the Italian could face trial over his alleged role in a €108 million tax fraud concerning his interests in Spanish television channel Telecinco.

Responding to Berlusconi's tirade yesterday, Schulz said: "The great respect which I have for the victims of Nazism prevents me from entering into a debate over these outrageous comments, which tell us quite a lot about the person who made them."

Just hours before Italy's presidency began on 1 July, a Milan court struck out a corruption case against Berlusconi under a contentious new immunity law.

Most of his presentation to MEPs was devoted to ambitious plans to give the Union greater teeth. Among the priorities he outlined were:

• Opening an intergovernmental conference in October on the draft EU constitution prepared by the future of Europe Convention;
• promoting peace in the Middle East, possibly by hosting a conference in Sicily on achieving Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation;
• finding "ways for better control and management of migratory flows" from the wider world into the Union;
• boosting EU-US ties following the fractious debate over the war in Iraq, and;
• improving the EU's sluggish economy by major investment in infrastructure projects.

European Commission President Romano Prodi, previously an arch rival of Berlusconi on the Italian political scene, declined to be drawn into the spat caused by the slur against Schulz.

He did however say it "emphasized" the enormity of the tasks facing the new presidency.

Two days into the Italian Presidency of the EU, the country's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi caused outrage on 2 July 2003 when he suggested that a German MEP, who had criticised Italy's stance on immigration, would be perfect for the role of a Kapo (guard) in a Nazi concentration camp.