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Berlusconi calls for stronger EU, could include Russia
AFP via EUbusiness ^ | Jan 19, 2002 | AFP

Posted on 01/19/2002 2:47:34 PM PST by CommiesOut

Berlusconi calls for stronger EU, could include Russia

MADRID, Jan 19 (AFP) - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi Saturday called in a newspaper interview for a stronger and larger European Union which could ultimately include Russia.

"I am enthusiastic to build a strong and large Europe, not only with 25 or 27 members, but also one which will include the Russian Federation, whenever that becomes possible," Berlusconi told the Spanish paper ABC.

Despite recent statements which have placed the Italian leader among the continent's leading eurosceptics, Berlusconi described himself as "one of the most fervent supporters of (EU) enlargment (so much so) that I love to call for the reunification of Europe".

The interview follows a speech Berlusconi gave to the Italian parliament Monday where he criticised the Franco-German partnership which has long been regarded as the powerhouse of European policy.

"Nobody, I repeat nobody, can think they can put us under their control or worse still treat us as a subject with limited sovereignty," he had told the chamber.

He also sacked his pro-Europe foreign minister Renato Ruggiero just days after the introduction of the single European currency, assuming the portfolio for himself for at least six months.

In a strongly pro-European interview, Berlusconi called for a Europe which would exert its political muscle on the international stage.

The EU should be "capable of pursuing an individual foreign policy towards the rest of the world" as well as "having the ability to intervene militarily in regional crises", the prime minister pointed out.

But he said that this political power depended on a strong financial foundation which required the implementation of economic policies which supported the private sector.

"Certain European socialist leaders talk non-stop, but they keep an excessive state presence in the economy as well as high taxation levels. I want what (Spanish PM Jose Maria) Aznar and (British PM Tony) Blair want. To innovate and to get rid of the monopolies and the bureaucracies," Berlusconi said.



TOPICS: Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS:

1 posted on 01/19/2002 2:47:34 PM PST by CommiesOut
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To: Free the USA, NewAmsterdam, Black Jade,Carry_Okie,jmp702,jjbrouwer,malarski, Askel5,AGAviator,Ju
.
2 posted on 01/19/2002 2:49:39 PM PST by CommiesOut
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To: CommiesOut
Is his first name Nero?
3 posted on 01/19/2002 2:53:40 PM PST by GROUCHOTWO
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To: CommiesOut
He wants to implement economic policies which '...support the private sector'.

He complains of European 'excessive state presence in the economy as well as high taxation'.

He will not allow the EU to 'treat us a subject with limited soverignty.'

Amazing that Italy had the sense to elect this ma. Sounds like my kind of guy.

4 posted on 01/19/2002 3:05:10 PM PST by SmartBlonde
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To: CommiesOut;All
THE UNITED STATES IS BEING DIMINISHED
Anatoliy Golitsyn, The Perestroika Deception

The blindness of the American leadership elite is diminishing the role of the United States as the leader of the Western world,and is offering the Soviets fresh openings enabling them to manipulate erroneous and naive perceptions of 'perestroika', to the detriment of the Western alliances. The distinction between the US vision of an enlarged Europe based upon Western values, and the Soviet vision of a neutral socialist Europe stretching from the Atlantic to the Urals, has been completely lost from sight.(75,76)

To sum up, US blindness in helping 'perestroika' in the USSR and Eastern Europe shows that the Bush (Sr.)Administration does not realize the strategic and political implications of such a policy for the United States and Western Europe. This blindness will end in disillusionment following the collapse of US long-term expectations, and may facilitate the final victory of the Soviet strategy of 'convergence' through political means.

Editor's Note:

75
Under the Single European Act and the Maastricht Treaty with its intergovernmental accords, no EC/EU Member State may claim intrinsic national interests any longer in key areas, such as foreign policy. On the contrary, such interests are held 'in common' by the Member States plus the Commission; and it is for that 'collective' to decide what the interests of the European Union are as a whole. These are liable to be acceptable to Moscow, given the binding obligations assumed by the individual EU countries towards Russia under the terms of their new bilateral treaties.

Editor's Note:

76
The phrases 'From the Atlantic to the Urals', 'From the Atlantic to Vladivostok' and 'From Vancouver to Vladivostok' are interchangeable in the strategists' lexicon. In the course of his Nobel Peace Prize Lecture, delivered in Oslo in June 1992, Gorbachev said: 'Our [sic] vision of the European space from the Atlantic to the Urals in not that of a closed system. Since it includes the Soviet Union [sic], which reaches to the shores of the Pacific, it goes beyond nominal geographical boundaries'. Note that Gorbachev, who had been out of office for six months, referred to the Soviet Union, not Russia. In an interview on Moscow Television on 19 November 1991, Eduard Shevardnadze continued speaking as though he was still Soviet Foreign Minster" 'I think that the idea of a Common European Home, the building of a united Europe, and I would like to underline today, of great Europe, the building of great Europe, great, united Europe, from the Atlantic to the Urals, from the Atlantic to Vladivostok, including all our territory, most probably a European-Asian space, this project is inevitable. I am sure that we will come to building a united military space as well. To say more precisely, collective security'. These statements by key implementers of the strategy reflect the strategic objective of asserting 'irreversible' Russian/Soviet hegemony over Eurasia, thus establishing the primary geographical component of the intended World Government.


5 posted on 01/19/2002 4:10:26 PM PST by Orion78
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To: CommiesOut
The reason that he's for enlargement is because he and other Euro-conservatives know that as long as the EU is expanding, they won't be deepening their policies. The grand social goals that the current members have for the EU can't be implemented if you start bringing in countries like Turkey and Latvia. It's also a likelihood that the expansion would destabilize what's already been done, leading to a larger but less powerful union.
6 posted on 01/19/2002 4:14:59 PM PST by July 4th
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To: CommiesOut;All
Other Articles of Interest:

Russia to the rescue?Moscow says Europe should turn eastward for security help (12/7/01)
Geopolitical Strategies of Russia, The 'Commonwealth of Independent States' and China (12/31/01)

7 posted on 01/19/2002 4:18:52 PM PST by Orion78
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To: July 4th
Very interesting. I'm a big Berlusconi fan and think that he has the potential to do a lot of good. The elitist Euro-socialists have been overly eager in trying to ram this EU thing down the throats of the public, which doesn't share their enthusiasm. The Left over there doesn't seem to understand that it's possible to be on the Right and pro-EU. If the EU is to succeed, the Eurosceptic viewpoint must be represented, otherwise there will be deep resentment and a real potential for a tumultuous breakup.

He's also right in that the Finns wouldn't even know what prosciutto is. Forza!

8 posted on 01/19/2002 4:31:14 PM PST by ValenB4
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To: CommiesOut
bump
9 posted on 01/19/2002 5:34:45 PM PST by Free the USA
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To: CommiesOut
The Neo-Communist Manifesto of the New European Commission (2/9/00)
Punks in the streets (Genoa, Day 3)(7/22/01)
Pre-election surprise in Poland (anti-EU with strong showing, commies support EU)(8/17/01)
10 posted on 01/22/2002 7:01:15 PM PST by Orion78
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