Brussels, 28/04/2014 (Agence Europe) - The German government refused to comment on Monday 28 April on the statements, described as “absurd”, made by the former head of the Italian government, Silvio Berlusconi, who asserted that “the Germans consider that the concentration camps never existed”.
At one of the regular press conferences, Steffen Seibert, the German government's spokesperson, indicated that “I'm not going to speak on behalf of the German government on the subject: the statements reported are so absurd that the government will not comment on them”.
Berlusconi, 77, expressed these ideas on Saturday to party activists during a European election campaign meeting, looking to attack German Socialist, Martin Schulz, a figure he detests and who is now a candidate for the presidency of the European Commission. The former head of the Italian government recalled for party activists an event at the European Parliament in 2003, where he was challenged but responded by advising Schulz, an MEP at the time, to play the role of “kapo” (head of the concentration camp guards) in films about the Nazi concentration camps. Berlusconi stated: “I didn't want to insult him but that caused a scandal because the Germans believe that the concentration camps never existed. Those at Katyn (the Soviet camp where thousands of Polish were massacred), yes, but the German camps, no”.
The German government spokesman also refused to comment about a European election poster by the Forza Italia, the party of Berlusconi, which read: “More Italy and less Germany” in Europe. Seibert simply stated that “Germany cooperates extremely closely and amicably at a European level with Italy and this will remain the case”.
On Monday, Jean-Claude Juncker, the candidate of the Conservatives of the European People's Party (PPE), to which the CDU of Angela Merkel and Forza Italia belong, said that he was “sickened” by Berlusconi's attacks. He called on the businessman to “withdraw his statements immediately and to apologise to the survivors of the Holocaust and to the citizens of Germany”. For Juncker, there are some things one does not make fun of: “For everybody with European history in mind, this is particularly true for the terrors experienced during the Holocaust that cost millions of innocent lives. Mr Berlusconi, the Holocaust is no laughing matter!”
Berlusconi also criticised Germany's role during the current crisis and Juncker denounced these “unacceptable attacks” and praised Germany's “unprecedented solidarity with European countries in difficulty”. He also stated: “We now have to heal these wounds, and not rub salt in them, as Mr Berlusconi is doing with these statements. We have to re-unite Europe after the crisis, not create further division” and added that “nobody has the right to insult friends and partners in the European Union”.
The ideas expressed by Berlusconi were immediately denounced by the president of the Party of European Socialists, Sergei Stanichev, who described them as “contemptible”. He also said that “these comments by Berlusconi are an insult to the entire German people and not only an insult to Martin Schulz. Moreover, they are a cynical attempt to distract from the real issues in this election like the need for more jobs and growth in Europe”.
Following the controversy unleashed by ideas he expressed, Berlusconi stated on Monday that he was a “friend” of the German people. In a press release published on the website of his political party, Forza Italia, Berlusconi affirmed that “it is absurd to accuse me of creating anti-German feeling or being hostile to the German people. I am their friend”. He accused the “European Left” of stirring up speculation for the umpteenth time by extrapolating from part of a sentence regarding an opinion expressed about “the Left's candidate, Martin Schulz”. Berlusconi also replied to Junker: “I'm not going to tell Jean-Claude Junker again that he should try and avoid falling into this kind of election campaign trap, which is already well known. I do underline my role as the historic friend of the Jewish people and the state of Israel which is and will remain the only defence of freedom and democracy in the Middle East”. (LC)