Berlusconi had been to San Raffaele, where his personal physician works, for a regular checkup for several days just last week
\n ROME
\nFormer Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi was hospitalized Wednesday in intensive care because of a problem related to a previous infection, but was alert and speaking, Italy\u2019s foreign minister said.
\nThe 86-year-old three-time premier was in the ICU at Milan\u2019s San Raffaele hospital, the clinic where he routinely receives care, said Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who is also a leader of Berlusconi\u2019s Forza Italia party. Speaking from Brussels, Tajani said Berlusconi was admitted because of an \u201cunresolved problem\u201d related to a previous infection.
\nBerlusconi has had a series of health problems in recent years, most significantly recovering from COVID-19 in 2020. He told reporters after being discharged from a 10-day hospital stay then that disease had been \u201cinsidious\u201d and was the most dangerous challenge he had ever faced.
\nHe has had a pacemaker for years, underwent heart surgery to replace an aortic valve in 2016 and has overcome prostate cancer. In January 2022 he was admitted for a reported urinary tract infection.
\nBerlusconi had been to San Raffaele, where his personal physician works, for a regular checkup for several days just last week. In a March 31 tweet after he returned home, Berlusconi thanked \u201call those who wanted to send a thought or sign of affection in these days.\u201d
\nHe said he was already back at work \u201cready and determined to commit myself as I\u2019ve always done to the country I love.\u201d
\nBerlusconi, a media mogul-turned politician, made his latest political comeback in September general elections, winning a Senate seat a decade after being banned from holding public office over a tax fraud conviction. That election brought a hard-right-led government to power, with Berlusconi\u2019s Forza Italia party a junior member of a government headed by Premier Giorgia Meloni.
\nBerlusconi remains at the helm of Forza Italia, the center-right party he created when he jumped into politics in the early 1990s, though the day-to-day running of the party has been left to underlings.
\nMost recently he has made waves with a handful of comments about his old friend Russian President Vladimir Putin, boasting that the two had exchanged birthday greetings and blaming Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for the war. Berlusconi\u2019s comments have irked the pro-Ukraine Meloni government, though just this week Tajani insisted that Berlusconi is committed to a peaceful solution to the war.
\nIn January 2022, Berlusconi withdrew his name from consideration to be Italy\u2019s president.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Berlusconi had been to San Raffaele, where his personal physician works, for a regular checkup for several days just last week ROME Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi was hospitalized Wednesday in intensive care because of a problem related to a previous infection, but was alert and speaking, Italy\u2019s foreign minister said. The 86-year-old three-time premier […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":324129,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-324100","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n