There was the European, German ally of the CSU and president of the European People’s Party, Manfred Weber. There was the former party mate, whom he defended to the end, until his expulsion from the EPP, the Hungarian premier Viktor Orban. There were the Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Ḥamad al-Thani and the Iraqi president Abdul Latif Rashidthe Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama and the captains regent of San Marino, Alexander Scarano e Adele Tonnini. Making headlines at the funeral of Silvio Berlusconi but they are absences of today’s and yesterday’s international leaders. Those known during his four terms a Palazzo Chigithose met during the sessions of European Councilthose he has visited and welcomed by foreign Minister. And especially those that he has always considered “amici”.
For obvious reasons there could not be Vladimir Putinbut the other great leader, allied in the Nato and considered a friend, Recep Tayyip Erdogandid not set foot in Italy and preferred to send the newly appointed foreign minister Hakan Fidan. This despite the fact that the relations between him and Berlusconi have always been considered close, given that it was the leader of Forza Italia himself who recounted that he had exploited their personal relationship to convince the Sultan of Ankara, in 2009, to remove the veto on the appointment of Anders Fogh Rasmussen as Secretary General of the Atlantic Pact.
Another historic ally was also missing, with whom Berlusconi managed to set up the talks in 2002 that led to the signing of the agreements of Pratica di Mare: he 76enne George W. Bush. Give him United States did not come, as expected, Joe Bidenhis deputy did not come Kamala Harris nor the secretary of state, Antony Blink. But the relationship between Bush and Berlusconi was not only a relationship between heads of the executive of allied countries, between leaders who shared a fairly similar idea of the state and the world, but between two friends. It was they themselves who defined themselves as such in the early 2000s, as evidenced by the visit of the politician from Arcore to the ranch of the head of the White House in 2003. Relationship similar to the one that linked him to the former British prime minister, the 70-year-old Tony Blair, also absent. He was the other creator of theWestern invasion of Iraq to which Berlusconi gave his support and that of Italy. And it was also with him that the leader of Forza Italia decided to share one holiday in Porto Cervoin 2004, that of the famous bandana immortalized in the photos of the time.
Remaining in Europe, the presence of Angela Merkelwho has never had an idyllic relationship with Berlusconi and who, in any case, has decided not to participate anymore in institutional events, or to Nicolas Sarkozy. From the Germania there are no prominent presences, let alone from Francecon Paris who decided to send the ambassador to Rome. This choice clashes with those made in the recent past: at the funeral of the former Japanese premier, Shinzo Abejust a year ago, Emmanuel Macron decided to send a former president like Sarkozy, while, without disturbing the ceremony for the Queen Elizabeth IIat the funeral of the President of the United Arab Emirates, Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, introduced himself in person. It must be said, however, that the emir died while he was still in office.
Furthermore, Berlusconi and his party boast historical relationships with the exponents of the People’s Party and the Spanish monarchy. But even from Madrid, where there is a government crisis, no representatives have arrived. It wasn’t even there Mariano Rajoywith which the foreign minister Antonio Tajani maintains close ties of friendship. But the most evident absence among the former leaders of the Iberian country is that of the former head of government Jose Maria AznarBerlusconi’s historic ally who spoke to the newspapers after the news of his death: “I have lost a friend, the world a unique man”. However, their “deep friendship” was not enough to see him at the funeral in the Milan Cathedral.