Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi pays tribute to his "
friend
" the former French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, with whom he remembers singing "
Douce France
", in a letter to the Italian daily Il Giornale published on Saturday .
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"
I had the chance and the honor to know him and to be a friend of his from 1956. He had an extraordinary intelligence
", writes Silvio Berlusconi, 84, greeting "
a hero of the freedom and the fight against communism
”.
“
I was fascinated by him from our first meeting, which took place in Paris during my studies at La Sorbonne.
He appreciated my love for his country and wanted to be my friend for life,
”he continues.
"
I still remember me singing and him at the piano for a song by Charles Trenet that we both liked: Douce France
".
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"
He contributed with his passion to the achievement of monetary union, to the opening of the Common Market and to having the European Parliament elected for the first time in 1979 by universal suffrage
", he recalls.
“
France is losing a president who has brought modernity and daring, Europe has lost support convinced of the existence of a united Europe and its essential character.
As for me, I am losing an incomparable advisor and a dear friend
, ”he concludes.
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The funeral of former French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, who died Wednesday at the age of 94 from Covid-19, began Saturday morning in the strictest family privacy in Authon, south-west of Paris.
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