Admirers, top Italian politicians, some foreign dignitaries, but still thousands of people. The state funeral of Silvio Berlusconi, who died on Monday at the age of 86 due to leukemia, took place this Wednesday in Milan.
Even before the start of the ceremony, under a scorching sun, a crowd of Italian citizens had gathered behind the barriers that separated it from the esplanade of the Milan Cathedral.
Fans chanted “Silvio,” “Berlusconi for president” or even “Thank you, you’re the only one” as he applauded to pay a final tribute to the sulphur-living billionaire and former president of Milan’s soccer club.
“Silvio Berlusconi is my first and last political love. It’s a very sad day for Italy,” Luigi Vecchione, a 48-year-old textile company employee from Borgosesia, Piedmont, said when asked by AFP.
Flags in Bern and national mourning
In Milan, as in all parts of Italy, the flags were today at half mast in public buildings. A day of mourning was also decreed, the first for a former Italian prime minister.
The ceremony was broadcast on two giant screens located in the square of the Lombard capital and in the forecourt of the cathedral so that all those who could not enter could follow it.
Covered with white, red and green flowers, in the colors of the Italian flag, the coffin arrived at 3:00 p.m. in front of the majestic cathedral, in the presence of thousands of people and to the chants of AC Milan supporters.
He then entered the church, to applause from the assembly, including Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, as well as many political dignitaries.
“When a man is political, he seeks to win. He has supporters and opponents. Some praise him, others do not support him ”, the Archbishop of Milan, Monsignor Mario Delphini, summed up in his homily.
In addition to Giorgia Meloni and her two Deputy Prime Ministers, Matteo Salvini and Antonio Tajani -number two of her Forza Italia party-, the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella as well as the former head of Government Mario Draghi were present.
rare foreign dignitaries
Democratic Party leader Elly Schlein and former center-left government leader Matteo Renzi represented, among others, the left and center-left opposition. The European Commission was represented by its Commissioner for the Economy, the Italian Paolo Gentiloni, former executive director in Rome.
Among the few foreign dignitaries were the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, Iraqi President Abdel Latif Rashid and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Source: BFM TV
