Posted on 08/28/2003 7:02:49 AM PDT by RussianConservative
MOSCOW - A Russian newspaper calls it "recreational diplomacy" - President Vladimir Putin will mix business with pleasure when he travels to Sardinia for a three-day seaside visit starting Friday with Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, one of his strongest supporters in the European Union.
Putin, who is pushing for the right of all Russians to travel around Europe without entry visas, will be among freewheeling, flashy jet set travelers - including some of his own newly superrich countrymen - as he trades Moscow's chilly late-August rains for the sparkling Costa Smeralda, or Emerald Coast.
The Kremlin refused to confirm or deny Russian media reports that Putin will bring his wife and his two teenage daughters, who spent some time at Berlusconi's Sardinian villa last summer. For Putin, the visit is the first of two he plans to make to Italy while Berlusconi holds the rotating EU presidency, which he took over in July for six months.
In addition to forming what appears to be an informal friendship with Putin, who praised the Italian leader for his ability to withstand the cold during a February visit to a lodge north of Moscow, Berlusconi has called for close ties between Moscow and the EU, which is set to expand to Russia's borders next year by taking in Poland and the Baltic states.
In February, Berlusconi said he would promote the creation of a Russia-EU consultative organ or permanent council, and in Moscow last month he pledged that Italy would help arrange regular meetings of such a body. He also repeated his statement - controversial in the EU - that Russia could eventually become part of a "Big Europe," implying EU membership.
Putin is to visit Italy again in November to hold bilateral talks and take part in a Russia-EU summit. The Kremlin wants the summit to focus on Putin's push for visa-free travel between Russia and the European Union and Russia's aspirations to join the World Trade Organization - an ambition Berlusconi backed firmly last month.
Also during the July visit, Berlusconi said he and Putin were working hard to improve tense relations between the Vatican and the Russian Orthodox Church, which has frowned on Pope John Paul II's hopes of being the first pontiff to visit Russia.
The Kremlin is calling Putin's Sardinia stay a working visit, but it seems unlikely a trip to a playground of the privileged will be all work.
"The Italian premier is a supporter of 'recreational diplomacy': serious discussions should alternate with entertainment," the Russian daily Nezavisimaya Gazeta said Wednesday.
It said the Putins would enjoy meals prepared by "international-class chefs" as well as arias and traditional Neapolitan songs performed by platinum-selling tenor Andrea Bocelli, a friend of Berlusconi's. "All this against the background of the silvery sea, special effects and soft lighting emanating from lamps hidden among ancient olive trees," the newspaper reported.
But Italy's billionaire leader may not be the only one playing host. Three Russian Black Sea Fleet ships were anchored off Sardinia for the visit, and the fleet's commander said a reception will be held aboard the 610-foot (186-meter) cruiser Moskva, Russia's Interfax news agency reported Wednesday
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