Reuters AlertNet

EU parliament deplores Berlusconi stand on Russia

STRASBOURG, France, Nov 20 (Reuters) - The European Parliament onThursday lambasted Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's recentoutburst in support of Russian President Vladimir Putin's policies inbreakaway Chechnya.

Berlusconi dismayed the European Commission and most member states withhis remarks at a joint news conference with Putin at the end of theNovember 6 summit between Russia and the EU in Rome. Italy holds theEU's rotating presidency.

"The European Parliament deplores the declarations made by thePresident-in-Office of the EU Council at the end of the EU-RussiaSummit in which he expressed his support for the Russian government'sposition concerning the human rights situation in Chechnya," said aresolution.

A spokeswoman for the parliament told Reuters the motion had beenpassed easily by a show of hands.

Berlusconi stepped in uninvited when Putin took a tough question onallegations of Russian abuses in Chechnya.

"In Chechnya there has been terrorist activity that has produced manyattacks against Russian citizens and there has never been an equivalentresponse from the Russian Federation," Berlusconi said.

He also defended Putin on a legal case against Russia's largest oilcompany, which has raised concerns in the West about Moscow's respectfor the rule of law.

At the Rome talks before the news conference, the EU had questionedPutin's handling of the human rights situation in Chechnya.

During a debate in the parliament on Wednesday, liberal leader GrahamWatson called Berlusconi's remarks "an improvised display of blusterworthy of a cheap lawyer."

Berlusconi has courted controversy since becoming president of theCouncil -- made up of all EU leaders -- in July.

In early July he set off a storm of protest by comparing a Germanparliamentary deputy to a Nazi prison guard. In September he was forcedto apologise to Jews for saying Italy's wartime dictator BenitoMussolini never killed anyone.