Authorities in Italy have to determine who is responsible for the alleged breach of sanctions. Berlusconi said Putin sent him 20 bottles of vodka for his birthday. With his statements about Putin published on Tuesday evening, he once again fueled doubts about the determination of the future government in taking action against Moscow. In a recording of a secretly taped speech by Berlusconi, the politician, who turned 86 on September 29, said that he had been in contact with the Kremlin boss again and that he had described him as one of his five best friends.
In the audio recording, the former head of government, whose Forza Italia wants to form the future government as a small partner in a right-wing coalition, said: “I’ve re-established relations with President Putin a bit, a bit much, so he sent me 20 bottles of vodka for my birthday and a very sweet letter.”
The European Commission does not examine individual cases of how sanctions would be applied, the spokeswoman said. Concerning breaches of the sanctions, these could be reported to the competent national authorities of the Member States or anonymously via the EU whistleblower tool.
