Italy: Berlusconi Isolated
“Aznar has left behind many orphans, starting with Silvio Berlusconi, whom he helped join the European Popular Party, giving him European legitimacy and with whom he was allied in recent years as far as foreign affairs,” said the economic daily Il Sole 24 Ore.
“It is obvious that the [political] earthquake in Spain could increasingly sideline Italy in the Europe that matters and makes decision”.
The daily Corriere della Sera agreed: “Following the defeat of the Spanish conservatives, Berlusconi knows that he is increasingly isolated in the European Union.”
La Stampa said Aznar’s defeat in the polls were a “surprise to the cavaliere”, as Berlusconi is called.
Le Repubblica said that Aznar’s defeat had dealt a blow to the pro-American camp in Europe.
“With a Spain now called upon to join in the dialogue between France, Germany and Britain, European foreign policy is going to regain its autonomy and will be carried out in a spirit of cooperation rather than cow-towing to the United States,” it said.
It said Italy and Poland, which like Spain backed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, were now marginalized and lacked the political credibility and weight to change this process.
Voter Backlash
Australian Prime Minister John Howard also conceded he could face an anti-war backlash at this year’s Australian elections similar to the protest vote that toppled Spain’s conservative government in the aftermath of the Madrid bombings.
Asked if his government might face a voter backlash because of its support for the Iraq war, Howard told an Adelaide radio station: “That is one of the many things people will take into account in going to the polls later this year.”
But he said he had no regrets about his decision to go to war in Iraq, adding: “It was in my view the right thing to do,” AFP reported.
He also said a majority of Australians would not want their government to be “intimidated, cowed and bullied” into changing its position on foreign policy issues because of terrorist threats.
“We are essentially a target for terrorists because of who we are rather than what we’ve done,” he said. “I don’t think we’re as big a target as some other countries because we don’t have terrorist cells operating in Australia.”
