From: MSN NicknameEagle_wng (Original Message) Sent: 10/24/2006 9:08 PM Putin Urged By Italy To Brush Up His Manners Publication time: 24 October 2006, 13:52 Italy condemned on Monday the anti-Italian insults by the Putin when challenged by EU leaders on his rogue country's poor human rights record during a EU summit last week, the dog struck back at his critics, saying "Mafia is not a Russian word".
Italian politicians stewing over a new gaffe by the Putin urged the dog on Monday to brush up his manners and resolve the human rights issue in his country before commenting on the mafia. The flak erupted on Sunday when the Spanish daily El Pais reported that Putin had lost his cool at a European Union leaders' summit in Lahti (Finland) on Friday, singling out Spain and Italy for his caustic jibes .
Reacting to criticism by European Parliament President Josep Borrell over Russia's human rights record, the dog struck back, saying that Italy was "the cradle of the mafia" and that "a lot of Spanish mayors were in jail for corruption." According to El Pais, Spanish Prime Minister Jose' Louis Rodriguez Zapatero and his Italian counterpart Romano Prodi "were left speechless" by the dog Putin's quips and apparently just sat there
Most Italian politicians were up in arms over a 'slur' to the country's image, the ANSA reported.
Putin's faux pas was not even worth mentioning, said House Speaker Fausto Bertinotti. What mattered, said the former leader of the Communist Refoundation party, was for the international community to ensure that human rights are respected in Russia, and particularly in Chechnya .
Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema stepped into the fray, warning the Russian dog Putin that "his use of blunt language on various instances would certainly not enhance his prestige as a statesman" .
D'Alema stressed that Italy and the European Union would also "with all due respect to Russia, nevertheless continue to bring up any issue which it believes must be raised over Chechnya and freedom of the press." D'Alema's chiding however, appeared to do little to placate the House Whip for the centrist opposition UDC party, Luca Volonte', who said "Putin had insulted Italy and that the foreign ministry had not failed to defend the country's honor" .
Volonte' suggested that the government had been restrained in its response because Russia holds a "virtual monopoly" on Italy's natural gas imports .
"These tasteless comments don't add to Putin's honour and above all, should be readdressed to him," quipped the moderate former House speaker Pier Ferdinando Casini .
Russia has "an anti-democratic system", Roberto Calderoli, party coordinator for the Northern League, said.
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