Rome, 05/03/2002 (Agence Europe) - The leaders of the Italian opposition (Ulivo) presented the House of Deputies with urgent questions to the Berlusconi Government, following declarations by Umberto Bossi on a so-called "fascist and Stalinist" EU (at the Lega Congress) and the Minister of the Economy, Giulio Tremonti on the need to combat the "European anti-trust henchman".
On 5 March, in the pages of La Repubblica, former Foreign Minister Renato Ruggiero broke the silence he had kept since leaving the Berlusconi Government on 5 January, stating: "had I not done so then, I would have done so today, faced with Bossi's monstrosities". The latest declarations were made "during a party congress, in the presence of all the coalition leaders", stresses Ruggiero, who, in answer to question, said he feared that, "to keep this heterogeneous governmental coalition united, Bossis' ideas could significantly influence - as has already been the case in part - the government's European stances". Mr. Ruggiero said in fact these declarations had been followed either by "claims of total support from important ministers" who are not members of the Lega, or by a "deep silence", and even by "vague phrases tending to back what Bossi said rather than rejecting it".