Italy's Berlusconi feeling well after 3 nights in hospital: FM
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Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani says Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is responding to treatment and doing better.
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Forza Italia party leader Silvio Berlusconi at he Senate, in Rome, on Oct. 26, 2022 (AP)
Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi spent another night in the intensive care unit at Milan's San Raffaele hospital, but he is currently doing better, according to foreign minister Antonio Tajani on Saturday.
"I haven't talked to him this morning, but he had a good rest. I am in contact with his family, and with (personal doctor) Prof. Alberto Zangrillo. He (Berlusconi) spent the night calmly and says that he feels well. And this is already a positive fact," Tajani told the Italian SkyTg24 broadcaster.
Tajani said that "Berlusconi is a lion", and he was responding to treatment, as per his doctor Zangrillo.
"This morning I talked to his brother, (he said) everyone is optimistic, they believe in his courage, in his strength. And we are convinced that he will return soon," the minister said.
Tajani, a Forza Italia member and close Berlusconi ally, also noted that the party would hold a major event in Milan from May 5 to May 6 and hoped that Berlusconi, the leader of the conservative party, would be able to attend it.
On Wednesday, local media reports stated that after being hospitalized in Milan this week, Berlusconi has been diagnosed with a severe blood disorder.
Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported that the recent complications he has been suffering in the past month, including his episode of pneumonia, were found to have been caused by the disease - leukemia, according to CNN.
The 86-year-old former prime minister was readmitted to Milan's San Raffaele Hospital after complaining of cardiovascular problems and suffering from breathing difficulties.
Berlusconi, who served as prime minister for nearly a decade, was temporarily barred from public office following a tax fraud conviction in 2013 and is still on trial for allegedly bribing witnesses in an underage prostitution case. He is said to have been bombarding parliamentarians in the run-up to the election with his "Operation Squirrel campaign," according to the Italian press.
Read: Scandal-ridden Berlusconi coming back for Italy's elections
