Berlusconi and Sarkozy: Will the dynamic duo change Europe?

Italy’s most colorful politician is back in power, said Mark Mardell in BBCnews.com, but this time he has a rival for the European spotlight. Media mogul Silvio Berlusconi has just been elected for a third stint as Italy’s prime minister, after spending two years as leader of the opposition. He can be described as “a flamboyant, conservative, shoots-from-the-hip, pro-American, accused of manipulating the media and coming out with asides that shock the more delicate of his countrymen.” But so can another short, womanizing European leader: French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Elected a year ago, Sarkozy “has already been accused of being Berlusconi-lite.” It will be fascinating to see how this “pair of peacocks with incendiary ideas” will “change the dynamics in Europe.”

It’s not by accident that Sarkozy “was one of the first leaders to congratulate Berlusconi,” said Pierre Avril in France’s Le Figaro. Geographic interests push the two toward cooperation: Their two countries share the Alps, and both have problems with illegal African immigrants arriving on their Mediterranean coasts. They have even more in common on economic issues, “sharing a mistrust of European monetary policy.” Together, they could present a counterweight to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who until now “has been seen as the most influential” European leader.

Sarkozy and Berlusconi have a third soul mate, said Leonardo Coen in Italy’s La Repubblica. That would be Vladimir Putin, the outgoing Russian president and soon-to-be prime minister. According to a report in a Russian newspaper, Putin has secretly divorced his wife, just as Sarkozy did, and plans to marry a former model— again “following in Sarkozy’s footsteps.” Putin has been cagey about the rumors. At a recent joint press conference with Berlusconi, the Russian president joked that he “loves all Russian women,” not just the lovely 25-year-old who may or may not be his fiancée. That prompted a visible show of glee from the notoriously flirtatious Berlusconi, who mimed machine-gunning the reporter who asked the question, in a “Take that!” gesture of solidarity with Putin.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up

But this is not all a joke, said Lluis Bassets in Spain’s El Pais. There is indeed a new Russian-French-Italian axis forming, and it has serious repercussions. Putin, Sarkozy, and Berlusconi have more in common than just “flashiness, celebrity, and perhaps women.” All three have untoward influence over “major industrial groups in their respective countries.” All three rely on populism and “the exploitation of national pride” for their popularity. And all three put “an authoritarian emphasis on law and order.” Both Sarkozy and Berlusconi have made reaching out to Russia a central component of their policies. The rest of us Europeans would be wise to keep a close eye on this “new triumvirate.”