TIMESONLINE: Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian Prime Minister, today came under fire from the Catholic Church as well as the Left after declaring that Italy was not and should not be a multi-ethnic society.
Mr Berlusconi's centre Right coalition won power a year ago partly by vowing to crack down on crime and illegal immigration. This weekend he praised Libya for taking back 500 would be migrants who have been intercepted by Italian naval vessels over the past five days, under a new Italian-Libyan accord.
"The Left's idea is of a multi-ethnic Italy," Mr Berlusconi told a news conference. "That is not our idea, ours is to welcome only those who meet the conditions for political asylum."
Italy was once itself a country of emigrants, but now sees itself as in the front line of an assault by poor and often desperate African, Asian and other migrants trying to get into Europe. The centre Left opposition however condemned Mr Berlusconi's remarks as racist. Silvio Berlusconi under Fire over Anti-immigration Remarks >>> Richard Owen | Sunday, May 19, 2009
