A government statement cited global media coverage of a number of high profile stories in recent days as “symptoms of a strategy” to damage Italy’s international standing. They included a probe involving defense group Finmeccanica, pictures of heaps of uncollected garbage in Naples and crumbling archaeological ruins in the ancient city of Pompeii as well as the planned release of US classified files by WikiLeaks.
Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said that among the documents to be released by the whistleblowing website “there could be judgments and facts which could hit Italy as an international actor.”
Berlusconi’s center-right government has been struggling for months as a series of corruption scandals, a sluggish economy and bitter infighting have prepared the ground for a confidence vote on Dec. 14 which could trigger early elections.
The statement, issued after a cabinet meeting, said Frattini had informed the cabinet about “delicate matters” and the need to act “firmly and with determination to defend the national image and protect the country’s economic and political interests.”
“This aim was unanimously shared by the cabinet,” said the cryptic statement, which did not elaborate on who might be behind the alleged plot.
An aide to Frattini said there was no precise evidence of a conspiracy but that negative media coverage of Italy and its government in the international press appeared to be influenced by “the interests of foreign countries,” without giving details.
Berlusconi’s popularity has fallen to a record low, with a garbage crisis in Naples and the collapse of the 2,000-year-old “House of the Gladiators” in the ruins of ancient Pompeii earlier this month adding to his government’s woes.
Separately, Rome prosecutors are investigating a unit of Finmeccanica, Europe’s seventh-biggest aerospace and defense group by market value, over alleged slush funds. Finmeccanica has denied any wrongdoing, saying it never created any such funds in Italy or abroad.
Berlusconi told reporters after the cabinet meeting that Finmeccanica was a “fantastic asset” and called any allegations against the group “suicidal.”
