14/06/2011 (Agence Europe) - Referendum on Italy's abandonment of nuclear power: Greens hail blow delivered to Berlusconi. “We congratulate the Italians (on saying no to nuclear power)! After the catastrophe in Fukushima, Italy is, after Germany and Switzerland, the third country in Europe to turn its back on nuclear energy. As things now stand, a majority of EU member states either don't use nuclear energy or have decided to phase out this high risk technology. The time has now come for nuclear power to be challenged in France”, said Greens co-leader in the European Parliament Daniel Cohn-Bendit (France) in a press release. “We called on the Italians to vote yes in the referendum on 12 and 13 June. We welcome the result which proves that Italians are again demonstrating a critical sense with regard to the baseness of Silvio Berlusconi. After Fukushima and Chernobyl, we know that nuclear energy can never be safe. Italy can now begin to make use of its vast potential in solar energy and still maintain its European commitments”, added German co-leader Rebecca Harms. (E.H./transl.rt)