Posted on 07/08/2003 12:38:05 PM PDT by BunnySlippers
Schroeder May Cancel Italian Vacation After Insult [Loud Blondes]
July 8 (Bloomberg) -- German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder threatened to cancel his vacation in Italy planned for next week, after an Italian official opened a new rift between the two countries' governments by insulting German tourists.
Stefano Stefani, a junior minister for tourism in Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government, called Germans ``uniform and loud blonds who invade Italian beaches'' in a letter published in the newsletter of his party, the Northern League. They take part in ``belching contests after consuming pantagruelian quantities of beer,'' he said.
Schroeder's vacation plans are ``still open,'' said Thomas Steinberg, a spokesman for the government in Berlin. Schroeder's chief spokesman, Bela Anda, said in a statement that Stefani's comments were an ``unacceptable general insult'' to Germans.
Berlusconi caused an uproar in the European Parliament when he likened Martin Schulz, a German Social Democrat lawmaker, to a Nazi concentration camp guard, on the second day of Italy's six- month presidency of the European Union.
Schroeder demanded an apology from Berlusconi for his comparison, calling his comments ``a completely unacceptable lapse.'' After a phone call with Berlusconi, in which the Italian leader said he regretted his remarks, Schroeder said the matter was ``definitely settled.''
`Gratuitous'
In an attempt to smooth tensions with European lawmakers, Berlusconi today expressed regret for his lapse to the European Parliament's president, Pat Cox. Cox considers the incident ``completely closed,'' his spokesman said.
Franco Frattini, Italy's foreign minister, said in a statement that Stefani's ``gratuitous and unwarranted remark won't affect the traditional friendship that ties Italy to Germany.''
Italian Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti, asked by reporters in Brussels what he would say to German tourists visiting Italy, responded: ``Welcome.''
Stefani dismissed calls for his resignation and invited Schroeder to be his guest on Lake Garda so he can ``understand what I'm made of and that I get on well with Germans who aren't like Schulz.''
Since Schroeder became chancellor in 1998, he has spent his vacation in Italy twice, once in Positano on the Amalfi coast and once in Pesaro, south of Rimini.
--Friederike Truemper in Berlin
-0- (BN ) Jul/08/2003 17:14 GMT
2 posted on 3/6/02 7:30 AM Pacific by grammymoon:
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He says that like it's a bad thing. That describes about 50% of my evenings in college.
-ccm
Sounds like Lambeau Stadium before a Packer game.... ;^)
And anyway -- Germans aren't going to suddenly stop vacationing in Italy. They've been going there for over 1400 years, mainly for the women. The whole Hohenstaufen dynasty in medieval Germany was based on German Emperors going for hot Italian babe Princesses.
It's not you. And it's fun sitting back and watching these guys sling mud at each other. Kinda like watching Democrats argue.
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