FORMER Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi has said he will be running in the European Parliament elections next month.
The controversial former prime minister and media tycoon said he made the decision to go up for election because he wants to fight for a more united European Union.
Berlusconi, 82, said on Saturday that he wanted Europe “to return to the project of the founding fathers who wanted a much more united Europe, a Europe with only one foreign policy, with only one defence policy”.
The billionaire was speaking at a weekend convention of his centre-right Forza Italia party, which in recent years has seen its popularity fall as voters turn to parties on the right with anti-migrant and Eurosceptic messages, especially the League party.
The League governs Italy in a coalition with the populist Five Star Movement. It is pushing for more national autonomy and less European integration.
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