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Work on Nuclear Power Stations To Start Within Three Years, Pledges Berlusconi

Putin’s “semi-private” visit. Memoranda on nuclear power and Abruzzo signed

MILAN – There was an “affectionate welcome” for Vladimir Putin, to whom Silvio Berlusconi “has been bound for many years by respect, friendship and affection”. The Italian premier was greeting his Russian counterpart at the start of the Villa Gernetto media briefing that followed the two leaders’ talks. At the top of the agenda was the delicate subject of energy.

NUCLEAR FUTURE – Mr Berlusconi said: “We talked a lot about the future of energy in the world and signed an agreement that could mark a turning point for nuclear energy. The project could bring about a step change in energy production for future generations” (a reference to the memorandum of agreement for collaboration in view of the construction in Russia of the “Ignitor” experimental thermonuclear reactor). The PM then made his announcement – work on Italy’s first nuclear power station “will begin within three years” – and assured listeners that economic development minister Claudio Scajola intends to get started before the end of the legislature. “Before we decide on a site for a nuclear power station, Italian public opinion must change”. Mr Berlusconi added: “We need to carry out a vast campaign of persuasion regarding the safety of the new power stations. In France, local communities take to the streets to get power stations, which create a lot of jobs. They compete to have them”.

RAI TV MESSAGE – Hence the idea for a public service message on RAI TV. “I talked it over with executives from the state-owned broadcaster and we are working on a project to gather the testimony of French citizens living near power stations, and to air it in Italy. The job will take more than a year but it is necessary”, said Mr Berlusconi. Andrea Lepore, who is in charge of Greenpeace’s anti-nuclear campaign, commented: “It’s bizarre that Berlusconi should choose the anniversary of Chernobyl to launch his nuclear propaganda campaign on RAI television”. “This is yet another propaganda announcement for nuclear power and it shows how difficult it is for Berlusconi to get Italians to accept a wrong-headed, uneconomic decision”, added the Democratic Party’s (PD) Ermete Realacci.

REACTIONS – There were plenty of reactions to Mr Berlusconi’s nuclear announcement. Laura Puppato, the PD’s environment policy spokeswoman, said: “Berlusconi should get more information. There is no environmentalist extremism refusing to tolerate nuclear power. There’s only common sense, linked to an international scenario that is investing all its resources in renewable energy. The EU reckons that uranium stocks will last for 50 or 60 years”. Claudio Saroufim, the environment spokesman for the Workers’ Communist Party (PDCL)-Left Federation, quipped: “Three years to start work on the first power station? Let’s hope the government falls before then”. Massimo Donadi, leader of the Italy of Values (IDV) group in the Chamber of Deputies, said: “No power stations will be built in Italy. On 1 May, the IDV starts collecting signatures and the referendum will sweep aside this colossal nuclear swindle”. Meanwhile, the referendum on building power stations and stockpiling nuclear waste in Sardinia has been put back to the autumn. On 1 April, the region’s referendum office approved the text submitted by the committee, which collected more than 16,000 signatures. Voting is likely to take place in October.

ENI – Returning to the meeting’s energy discussions, there was an announcement in the context of Italian-Russian co-operation that ENI could expand its collaboration with Gazprom beyond Europe, for example to Africa. Mr Berlusconi said: “We will continue along the road of Gazprom-ENI collaboration [committing a minor gaffe when he referred to “the Soviet Union” instead of “Russia” – Ed.] and I think that there could be collaboration with non-European countries. The entire continent of Africa is opening up to foreign companies and we would not want to leave China to soak up this new potential on its own”.

CRISIS – Mr Berlusconi pointed out: “Sadly, we have recorded an almost 30% drop in movements between Italy and Russia, a dip that is related to the crisis. We hope that the recovery can take commercial exchanges back to the 2008 level”. Mr Putin expressed a hope that Russia and Italy could return to pre-crisis levels of economic co-operation. At the media briefing, the Russian prime minister said: “We need to take active steps to restore our level of co-operation. We’ve got what it takes. In the aftermath of the world crisis, exchanges fell by 38%. Normally, energy is viewed as the foundation of co-operation, and for the most part that is the case, but it is not the only thing we do together”. The reference was to Italo-Russian collaboration in the engineering, chemicals and aerospace sectors.

L’AQUILA – Despite the crisis, Moscow announced it was setting aside 7.2 million euros for the restoration of Palazzo Ardinghelli and the church of San Gregorio Magno. Remarking on this 7.2 million-euro “gesture of friendship”, Mr Berlusconi told Mr Putin that “he should feel under an obligation to accept the invitation to attend the first mass when the church of San Gregorio Magno at L’Aquila is re-opened. And he will come”.

LIBERAL UNIVERSITY – The meeting was held at Villa Gernetto, which is planned to be the home of the university so close to Mr Berlusconi’s heart. The prime minister explained to reporters that work on the university was making progress and that a large number of internationally influential politicians had been contacted to teach there. He added: “I would like the first professor to start a course to be Vladimir Putin”. A smiling Mr Berlusconi said: “I have asked him and from his reply I can tell that he would not be averse to the idea”.

SOCHI 2014 – Mr Berlusconi then assured his friend of Italy’s support in organising the Winter Olympics: “We hosted a Winter Olympics at Turin with great success, and for Sochi 2014 we are willing to hand on all our experts’ experience to the experts of the Russian Federation. We put it at their disposal with immense joy. We have also discussed other events that Russia intends to host, including the football World Cup”.

MARRIAGES – Finally, Mr Berlusconi replied to a question on what is needed to make “political marriages” work. “I’m an expert in many fields, in town planning, publishing, sport and public administration, but I haven’t had happy results in my marriages and I refrain from offering suggestions on the subject. It takes two to quarrel but you only need one for a divorce, as I was told by someone you know”. Mr Berlusconi’s last remark was clearly a reference partly to his marital vicissitudes with Veronica Lario and partly to his recent political problems with Gianfranco Fini.

English translation by Giles Watson

www.watson.it

Article in Italian

27 aprile 2010