Italian politicians stewing over a new gaffe by Vladimir Putin urged the Russian President 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, Putin allegedly 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 president's quips and apparently just sat there. Prodi's spokesman Silvio Sircana attempted to play down the incident, telling reporters that Putin was simply trying to address Borrell's criticism with a bit of irony.
What Putin really said was: "mafia is not a Russian word," said Sircana.
Defending the premier's alleged silence, Sircana stressed that Putin made his remarks at a closing speech and that rebuttals were not scheduled.
Russian diplomatic sources in Moscow echoed this version, telling ANSA on Monday that Putin had simply called attention to the fact that "mafia isn't a Russian word" when discussing his government's campaign against criminality and corruption in Russia.
Nevertheless, most Italian politicians were up in arms over what they saw as a 'slur' to the country's image. 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 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 honour.
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. Putin, however, managed to drum up a bit of support from controversial opposition politician Roberto Calderoli, party
coordinator for the devolutionist Northern League.
Russia has "an anti-democratic system", Calderoli said, but on the mafia he told reporters Putin was "absolutely right. We've exported it".
Another of Putin's remarks created diplomatic shock waves last week. He was reportedly overheard discussing the sexual assault charges against Israeli President Moshe Katsav with visiting Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert at the Kremlin. Russia's Kommersant daily quoted Putin telling Olmert
that Katsav was "a powerful guy. He raped ten women." "We all envy him," the daily quoted Putin as saying. According to a Kremlin spokesman, Putin's comments were mistranslated.
