Berlusconi stresses unity in Congress speech

Reuters.com ^ | 03/01/2006

[GeneD]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, on a trip geared to help his re-election prospects at home, told the U.S. Congress on Wednesday that fissures in the U.S.-European alliance over the Iraq war must be patched to spread democracy and stem terrorism.

After he drew effusive praise from President George W. Bush on Tuesday, the Republican-led Congress gave Berlusconi the rare opportunity to address a joint meeting of Congress, with Bush's Cabinet in attendance. Some Democrats, however, chafed at the event.

These Democrats were slow to arrive or sent aides in their place, which a House of Representatives Democratic aide attributed partly to irritation at being called to an event they viewed as a campaign booster for Berlusconi and his center-right coalition.

"It was very odd that the Democrats showed such a lack of enthusiasm when millions of Americans are of Italian descent and the country is a major ally of the United States," a House Republican aide said.

Berlusconi, who trails slightly in the polls behind center-left leader Romano Prodi, said it was "absolutely necessary, indeed fundamental to sustain and reinvigorate the Atlantic Alliance, the alliance that for more than half a century has guaranteed peace in liberty."

He warned against a "fortress Europe" mentality, and said "disagreement, or worse, opposition between the United State and Europe would be entirely unjustified and would jeopardize the security and prosperity of the entire world."

Berlusconi agreed to send some 3,000 Italian troops to Iraq after the March, 2003, U.S.-led invasion, and has supported Bush despite strong opposition among Italians to the war. Italy plans to complete withdrawal of its troops from Iraq by the end of this year.

European countries were divided over the Iraq war, with opposition from Germany and France drawing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's derisive description of them as "old Europe." Governments of Britain, Spain and Italy backed the war, despite widespread public opposition.

U.S. lawmakers received Berlusconi politely with several ovations, particularly for his closing reminiscence of a boyhood trip with his father to a cemetery of American soldiers killed in World War Two, and their vow "never to forget the ultimate sacrifice those young American soldiers made."

(additional reporting by Susan Cornwell)