Seattle & Times – Nation & World
By Jason Horowitz-The New York Times
ROME — Silvio Berlusconi, the former Italian prime minister, campaigned to be the protector of democratic, pro-European values in a new right-wing coalition that is expected to take power in days after winning elections last month.
But even before a government can be sworn in, the 86-year-old billionaire media mogul has proved himself to be less of a stable, moderating force, than the source of renewed anxiety after the leak of surreptitiously recorded remarks revealed that he blamed Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, for forcing President Vladimir Putin of Russia to invade Ukraine.