he first and only time Silvio Berlusconi held a news conference at the Italian Foreign Press Association in Rome was in November 1993. The businessman told journalists he had no desire whatsoever to enter politics, and hoped he would never be forced to.
But when the correspondents probed further, particularly about his friendship with Gianfranco Fini, the leader of the National Alliance, a descendant of the neofascist Italian Social Movement, he accused them all of being “communists” – the ultimate insult, from those on the right in Italy – against anyone with leftwing leanings.
Just a few months later Berlusconi won his first election as part of a coalition that included National Alliance.
“He presented as a businessman, knowing full well he was going to enter politics and this was a way of getting exposure in the world’s press,” said Chris Warde-Jones, a photographer who was at the press conference. “But he resented being questioned.”
The three-time Italian prime minister never returned to speak at the Foreign Press Association in Rome. Invitations over the years were refused on the grounds that he found foreign newspapers “offensive”.
