The United States will not comment on the Italian election until a winner is officially declared, White House sources said here. "We are keeping a close eye on developments in Italy and I do not expect anything will change in regards to relations between the US and Italy," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.
Once a winner is declared President George W.Bush will phone and congratulate him, the spokesman added. The center-left coalition headed by Romano Prodi won the majority in both the Senate and House in this week's elections, but outgoing Premier Silvio Berlusconi has refused to concede the defeat of his center-right alliance until the close results are reviewed and declared valid.
Because of his "strong, personal relationship" with Berlusconi, Bush is expected to also phone the outgoing premier once the results are confirmed.
According to National Security Council (NSC) spokesman Fred Jones, the White House "is ready to work with the new Italian government and whoever may lead it".
"Italy is a close and valid ally and there are a lot of areas where we wish to continue our collaboration," added.
Former US ambassador to Italy Richard Gardner, a Democrat, said it was obvious that Bush, a Republican, "would have preferred to see Berlusconi win, just as Prodi and the center left would prefer to work with a Democratic administration in Washington".
Simon Serfaty, director of European Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said he did not expect any chill in relations between Rome and Washington because relations in general between the US and Europe had improved.
The center left coming to power in Rome, he explained, will not have the same impact of the center left winning the Spanish elections in March 2004, which was followed by Spain abruptly withdrawing its troops from Iraq.
Prodi has indicated that he will respect the established timetable for withdrawing Italian troops from Iraq by the end of the year.
Helmut Sonnenfeldt, a foreign policy expert at the Brookings Institution and former NSC member, said he did not expect Bush to be hostile to Prodi because "he has no reason to".
"And Prodi has no reason to create tensions with Washington. Especially at the start of his term when he must deal with a lot of his own problems at home and in Europe".
"It is in both their interests to avoid friction," the think-tank expert added. Gardner agreed and added that Bush and Prodi "will have to put the common interests ahead of personal preferences and seek to consolidate strong relations between Italy and the US".
Both Gardner and Sonnenfeldt agreed that Prodi's biggest problem will be governing Italy with such a slim majority at a time when tough decisions must be made in regards to the economy and the welfare state, decisions which Berlusconi avoided over the past five years.
