Berlusconi distances self from euro attack
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-06-06 10:12

Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi phoned Italy's president on Sunday to show his support and to distance himself from a Cabinet minister who criticized the president for having steered Italy into adopting the euro currency.

The criticism from Reforms Minister Roberto Calderoli came after his colleague in the Northern League, Labor Minister Roberto Maroni, called for a referendum to ask Italians if they wanted to go back to the lira because the euro had brought such high prices.

Calderoli blasted President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi for having helped Italy qualify for membership in the 12-nation European currency when he was treasury minister in the late 1990s.

Italian Welfare Minister Roberto Maroni (L) holds a press clipping review as he is seen through a car window leaving his office at Ministry of Labor and Welfare in Rome June 3, 2005. Italy should consider leaving the single currency and reintroducing the lira, Welfare Minister Maroni said in a newspaper interview on June 3, 2005.[Reuters]

"Ciampi is one of the people who pushed for our country to join the euro at all costs," Calderoli was quoted as saying Sunday in Rome daily La Repubblica. "Today it's hard to admit defeat — but it must be admitted."

On Sunday, Berlusconi's office said the premier phoned Ciampi in a show of support and to distance himself from the Northern League's attacks. Berlusconi also called on all ministers to "respect their institutional roles and that of the highest leaders of the republic."

Calderoli responded Sunday by saying he hadn't attacked Ciampi in his role as president, but in his previous roles as premier and treasury minister.

"I have the highest institutional respect for Ciampi," Calderoli was quoted as saying by the ANSA and Apcom news agencies.

The Northern League's attacks on the euro came after France and the Netherlands rejected the proposed European Union constitution in referendums that were widely seen as popular discontent with their governments, the EU and its policies.

The anti-euro attack has been rejected by Italian parties of all stripes as well as by industry leaders.

"Europe helped us, saved us," Luca Cordero de Montezemolo, head of Italy's business lobby Confindustria, said in a speech Saturday.

The value of the euro slid last week as doubt over the European Union constitution spread. A euro bought $1.2217 in late trading on Friday, down from $1.2273 late Thursday and more than 3.5 cents below the $1.2575 it bought the previous Friday.

Close

Today's Top News     Top World News
China's stock markets slumping to 8-year lows         Beijing Olympic volunteers get call-up         Chemical weapons disposal complex planned         China-US talks fail to resolve disputes         Iraq says Saddam will face just 12 charges         Disease threatens as more floods loom large	Iraq says Saddam will face just 12 charges       Hizbollah, allies win landslide in south Lebanon polls       Japan to develop missile defense system with US from 2006       Swiss passport vote gives Europe a boost       Kuwait, making history, names two women to council       Egypt condemns guards for Quran incidents