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Former Italian premier Silvio
Berlusconi on Monday said his claim that Germans of today deny
the existence of Second World War concentration camps "was
extrapolated out of context" by "the European left", and
affirmed his "historic friendship with the Jewish people and the
State of Israel".
Berlusconi, who has long been known for verbal gaffs, added
that he was made a victim of political opponents who set up a
"campaign trap" to ensnare him ahead of European parliamentary
elections on May 25.
Controversy erupted when, over the weekend, the media
magnate and centre-right leader said that "for the Germans, the
concentration camps never existed," in a fresh attack on an old
foe, Martin Schulz, a German politician and speaker of the
European Parliament.
He is also the leader of the Progressive Alliance of
Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament and their
candidate.
The 77-year-old Berlusconi, who has been smarting after an
Italian court upheld his ban on standing for election to the
European parliament next month due to a tax-fraud conviction,
had previously slurred Schulz by describing him as a guard in a
Nazi death camp during the Second World War.
That came during an angry exchange between the two, who
have clashed often, in the European Parliament in June 2003.
Germany dismissed Berlusconi's comments as being beneath
official notice.
A spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel, Steffen Feibert,
on Monday said the claim "was so absurd that the German
government won't comment".
Berlusconi said it was "surreal to call me hostile to the
German people, my friends," after his claim that they denied the
existence of concentration camps.
"If I'm hostile to something it's counterproductive
austerity, and rules and regulations that in my opinion are
seriously flawed, which are burdening all of Europe with
long-term economic stagnation," he added.
Still, even his supposed political ally Jean-Claude
Juncker, the centre-right European People's Party (EPP)
presidential candidate, demanded Berlusconi apologize for the
concentration camps remark.
"Berlusconi's statements nauseated me. I call on him to
take them back immediately and apologize to Holocaust survivors
and German citizens," said Juncker, former Luxembourg prime
minister.
The EPP, which counts Berlusconi's Forza Italia party among
its members, is currently the largest grouping in the European
Parliament.
Berlusconi sparked a similar storm late last year over
remarks that his adult children told him they feel like Jewish
families must have under Hitler because of the alleged judicial
persecution against him.
"My children say they feel like the Jewish families must
have felt in Germany during Hitler's regime," the media mogul
told journalist Bruno Vespa in an interview for a book.
The ex-premier was quickly lambasted by prominent members
of Italy's Jewish community, who denounced his comparison of his
wealthy family with the Jewish people under the persecution of
Hitler.
Berlusconi's list of present legal woes is lengthy: he is
set to serve one year of community service for a four-year
tax-fraud sentence - cut by an amnesty - which also carries a
ban from office; he is appealing a six-year sentence for sex
with an underage prostitute and abuse of power to cover it up,
and is also on trial for allegedly bribing a centre-left Senator
to switch sides.
Throughout more than 20 legal cases since he first swept to
victory in 1994, Berlusconi has said he is the victim of
left-wing elements in the judiciary.
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