Former Italian PM Berlusconi in intensive care in hospital
Senator and former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi was in intensive care in a cardiac unit on Wednesday after reportedly suffering respiratory problems.
The 86-year-old media mogul, who has been in and out of the hospital for years, is currently in Milan's San Raffaele Hospital, the source told AFP.
Berlusconi "is in intensive care because of a problem concerning an unresolved infection. But he is talking," Italy's foreign minister Antonio Tajani told journalists.
Italian news agency Ansa said he was admitted on Wednesday morning and his current condition was "stable", but he was expected to stay in overnight on Wednesday.
Berlusconi was rushed to hospital after complaining of breathing difficulties, Italian media reported.
The billionaire leader of the right-wing Forza Italia party, Berlusconi spent four days last month at the same hospital for what Italian news reports called heart issues, before being discharged on March 30th.
Milan's San Raffaele Hospital, where former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has been admitted to intensive care with heart problems. (Photo by Piero CRUCIATTI / AFP)
After dominating Italian politics for two decades, Berlusconi now appears visibly diminished on the rare occasions he is seen in public.
Long gone are the days of his infamous erotic "bunga bunga" parties with young dancers, which he has always insisted were nothing more than "elegant dinners".
Berlusconi was in hospital for 11 days for Covid-related pneumonia in September 2020, after contracting the virus while on holiday in Sardinia, describing it as "perhaps the most difficult ordeal of my life."
The following year, Covid-related complications caused a series of hospital stays.
Berlusconi, who served as prime minister three times after entering politics in 1994, had open heart surgery in 2016 and surgery on his intestine three years later.
Forza Italia is a member of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's coalition government, although the party attracts only about 10 percent of voters.
Berlusconi won a seat in Italy's Senate during general elections in September, nine years after he was kicked out from the upper house of parliament after a conviction on tax fraud.
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The 86-year-old media mogul, who has been in and out of the hospital for years, is currently in Milan's San Raffaele Hospital, the source told AFP.
Berlusconi "is in intensive care because of a problem concerning an unresolved infection. But he is talking," Italy's foreign minister Antonio Tajani told journalists.
Italian news agency Ansa said he was admitted on Wednesday morning and his current condition was "stable", but he was expected to stay in overnight on Wednesday.
Berlusconi was rushed to hospital after complaining of breathing difficulties, Italian media reported.
The billionaire leader of the right-wing Forza Italia party, Berlusconi spent four days last month at the same hospital for what Italian news reports called heart issues, before being discharged on March 30th.
After dominating Italian politics for two decades, Berlusconi now appears visibly diminished on the rare occasions he is seen in public.
Long gone are the days of his infamous erotic "bunga bunga" parties with young dancers, which he has always insisted were nothing more than "elegant dinners".
Berlusconi was in hospital for 11 days for Covid-related pneumonia in September 2020, after contracting the virus while on holiday in Sardinia, describing it as "perhaps the most difficult ordeal of my life."
The following year, Covid-related complications caused a series of hospital stays.
Berlusconi, who served as prime minister three times after entering politics in 1994, had open heart surgery in 2016 and surgery on his intestine three years later.
Forza Italia is a member of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's coalition government, although the party attracts only about 10 percent of voters.
Berlusconi won a seat in Italy's Senate during general elections in September, nine years after he was kicked out from the upper house of parliament after a conviction on tax fraud.
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