Bush backs Berlusconi amid criticism over EU role

US President George W. Bush yesterday backed Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in his role as rotating president of the European Union, which has been criticised in Europe.

"I am pleased that Prime Minister Berlusconi is now serving as the president of the European Union, and I am confident that under his leadership of the EU, Europe and America will continue to meet the great challenges before us," Bush told a joint news conference with his Italian ally at the US leader's Texas ranch.

Berlusconi has spent much of his three weeks as EU president trying to douse the flames of scandal caused by comments he made against a German politician.

On the second day of the six-month presidency which began on July 1, Berlusconi compared a German member of the European parliament to a Nazi concentration camp guard, sparking international outrage and a diplomatic row.

Previously, many political groups in the European parliament and leading European media had questioned Mr Berlusconi's suitability for the post. In Italy, Mr Berlusconi has faced charges, which he denies, of bribing judges, and he has benefited from last-minute immunity legislation.

But he was also one of President Bush's strongest European allies in the run-up to the Iraq war, which helped land him an invitation to the Bush ranch for a two-day visit.

Berlusconi lavished praise on President Bush as a friend with whom he shared a "common vision on all of these issues," and he urged trans-Atlantic unity after bitter rows over Iraq which pitted the United States against opposition led by Germany and France.

"We really need to support and develop the culture of union and cohesion and certainly not nurture the culture of division. Selfishness, narcissism and division shall never win," Mr Berlusconi said.