Italy has lost a strong personality, Dutch PM says about Silvio Berlusconi's death

Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi died on Monday at the age of 86. Prime Minister Mark Rutte expressed his condolences, describing Berlusconi as “a strong character.”

“He was the first Italian Prime Minister I worked with, and I will remember him as a striking and passionate politician. I have conveyed my condolences to Prime Minister GIorgia Meloni on behalf of the Dutch government. Our thoughts are with his family and other loved ones,” Rutte said on Twitter.

Berlusconi was admitted to San Raffaele Hospital in Milan on Friday. He died in the hospital on Monday, NU.nl reports. Earlier this year, he spent 45 days in the hospital with a lung infection due to his chronic leukemia.

Berlusconi was a politician, media magnate, and businessman. In recent months, he mainly made the news due to controversial statements. At the end of last year, for example, he promised the players of his football club, AZ Monza, that he would send prostitutes to their dressing room if they won a match. He was also friends with Russian President Vladimir Putin and defended him after Russia invaded Ukraine. His career was marked by positions of power, sex scandals, and countless accusations of corruption and tax fraud, according to NU.nl.

Until his death, Berlusconi led the Forza Italia, a coalition party in Italy’s current government. He was a rather controversial figure in Italy, and Reuters expects his death will test the coalition’s stability in the coming months.