US and EU focus on Italian premier's performance on the political stage

Silvio Berlusconi's image will have been badly damaged by the spate of stories over his alleged links with models and starlets, writes James Blitz in London . But for western governments, the critical question is not what the Italian prime minister does in his private life but whether he can help solve the pressing problems facing the US and European Union. For the Obama administration in the US, Mr Berlusconi is a leader with whom some business has to be done. Italy, unlike some states in the Nato alliance, firmly supports the international mission in Afghanistan and has no intention of withdrawing its 2,350 troops. Mr Berlusconi has also became one of the first EU leaders to pledge his country will take inmates from the Guantánamo Bay detention centre. But president Barack Obama is clearly far less keen on Mr Berlusconi than George W. Bush, his predecessor, was. Mr Berlusconi's declining influence is not entirely his fault. "The fundamental shift in Europe in the last two years is that France and Germany now have very pro-US governments," says one western diplomat. "That means Italy matters less to the White House."

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