Berlusconi threatens to block EU voting

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi yesterday threatened to block European Union decision-making unless EU commissioners and their spokesmen were barred from speaking publicly.

Mr Berlusconi appeared to object to Italian newspaper reports suggesting that the European Commission was implicitly criticising Italy by requesting information from it and Malta after a boat of African migrants was returned to Libya.

Some European MPs expressed shock at Mr Berlusconi's threat, with one calling his comments "outrageous".

This was the latest clash in which Mr Berlusconi has become embroiled and followed months of domestic controversies. Mr Berlusconi is suing European newspapers over their reports on his relationship with an underage girl and a prostitute.

Dennis Abbott, Commission spokesman for regional policy, confirmed that a request had been made. "The request for information is a normal process in situations like this. The Commission wants to help but, if it's to help, it needs accurate information," he told a news briefing.

But Mr Berlusconi said the Italian media reports were the result of the words of Commission spokesmen being "manipulated".

He told reporters in Gdansk, Poland, where European leaders were marking the 70th anniversary of the start of World War II, that he would bring up the issue at the next EU summit and demand that errant commissioners be fired.

"My position will be unequivocal and precise: we will not give our vote anymore, effectively blocking the functioning of the Council (meetings of EU governments) unless it is agreed that no commissioner or spokesman of a commissioner can publicly weigh in on any topic," Mr Berlusconi said.

Only the European Commission president and his spokesman should be able to speak publicly, he added.

"I'll ask that the commissioners and the spokesmen of commissioners who continue the trend of all these years be fired in a definitive manner," he said.

"This is something that cannot be accepted anymore because it gives the opposition in every country weapons that don't exist," the billionaire media mogul added.

One senior European MP expressed outrage.

"We think that the leader of a government of a member state should not make these demands. Mr Berlusconi, once again, has shown his deep anti-European sentiment," said Martin Schulz, leader of European socialists in the European Parliament.

"We call on the EU Presidency and Commission President Barroso to react immediately and personally against this outrageous attack on the European institutions," he said.

The Italian government is particularly sensitive to attacks on its refugee policy. In May, Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa called the local mouthpiece of the UN refugee agency an "inhuman" and "criminal" leftist over her criticisms.

The spokesman, Laura Boldrini, on Monday accused Italy of sending back the boat of refugees from Italian waters without giving them a chance to request asylum, calling the case "very serious". Italy says the boat was in international waters.