Berlusconi embraces dual role

ROME, Italy -- Italy's prime minister, fresh from appointing himself to a second post as foreign minister, says the dual role suits him fine -- and that he is the right man for the job.

Billionaire Silvio Berlusconi said his business sense would be an asset, saying: "I like this job and I think I know how to do it well because it needs an entrepreneur, an innovator, an organiser. I think I'll be the right person in the right place."

Berlusconi appointed himself as foreign minister after Renato Ruggiero quit over the weekend in a row over Italy's stance on the new euro currency and the European Union as a whole.

Ruggiero's resignation and Berlusconi's decision to appoint himself as foreign minister dismayed some European leaders concerned about the Italian government's approach to European integration.

Berlusconi says he will remain as foreign minister until he reorganises the ministry -- but insists he is committed to the EU.

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"If there is anyone who has always believed in Europe, it's me," he said at a brief news conference at the Foreign Ministry on Wednesday.

One contender for the foreign minister's job is Gianfranco Fini, the leader of a once-fascist party and now deputy prime minister.

Berlusconi on Wednesday said Fini, the deputy prime minister, was "absolutely" a candidate.

Fini once described Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini as one of last century's "greatest statesmen," while his party, the National Alliance, was forged from the remains of Mussolini's black shirts.

The party has since abandoned its roots to become a broader, more moderate movement and Fini is regarded as one of the more pro-European ministers within the often euro-sceptic Berlusconi coalition.

French Finance Minister Laurent Fabius said on Monday that Berlusconi needed to confirm Italy's commitment to the European Union.

"Italy is one of the pillars of Europe and one could be quite worried," Fabius said in a radio interview. "So I think there is a need for a clarification at the level of the heads of government."

A non-partisan former head of the World Trade Organization, Ruggiero, 71, was seen by many observers as the respectable international face of Berlusconi's coalition.

Berlusconi said he and his foreign minister had to go their separate ways because Ruggiero had voiced consistent doubts over the government's commitment to Europe.

And CNN's European Political Editor, Robin Oakley, said: "There is a real worry about Silvio Berlusconi's touch, and about the degree of his commitment to Europe."

Ruggiero had commanded respect in European capitals because of his experience as a diplomat and as president of the WTO.

Observers say he also balanced out more centre-right ministers in the cabinet -- among them Reforms Minister Umberto Bossi, who has been sceptical of greater European integration.

German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer telephoned Ruggiero on Sunday to express regret at his departure and praised him as a "convinced European and a good friend of Germany."

French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine called him "a great European who enjoyed a very strong reputation across Europe."

Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel said: "I do not know exactly what Prime Minister Berlusconi's commitment toward Europe is, but I do know that some members of his coalition stand up against Europe on a regular basis and blame Europe for lots of things that are not justified.

"I think he will continue to face difficulties with that kind of a coalition."