Silvio Berlusconi: Former Italian prime minister admitted to hospital with leukaemia

Italy’s former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has long been suffering from leukaemia and is in hospital under intensive care for a lung infection, Reuters reports.

The 86-year-old was being treated at Milan’s San Raffaele Hospital after suffering breathing problems on Wednesday.

A source told Sky News the four-time prime minister had been diagnosed with leukaemia and was in a stable condition.

He has a chronic form of leukaemia which is not becoming acute, Reuters reported, citing a source.

“He’s stable. He’s a rock,” Mr Berlusconi’s brother Paolo said after visiting him on Wednesday afternoon.

The billionaire media tycoon has suffered several bouts of ill health in recent years, including contracting COVID-19 in 2020.

After being discharged from a 10-day hospital stay, he said the disease had been “insidious” and was the most dangerous challenge he had ever faced.

He has had a pacemaker for years, underwent heart surgery to replace an aortic valve in 2016 and has overcome prostate cancer. He was admitted for a reported urinary tract infection in January 2022.

Mr Berlusconi stepped down as prime minister for the last time in 2011 as Italy came close to a Greece-style debt crisis and he faced several scandals, most notably around his notorious “bunga bunga” parties.

He returned to the Senate after a general election last September.

Read more:
Dozens of migrants rescued after getting stranded on uninhabited island south of Sicily
Starbucks launches olive oil coffee in Italy – and it’s coming to the UK next

‘Forza Silvio’

Mr Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party is part of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni‘s right-wing coalition, but he does not have a role in government.

“Sincere and affectionate wishes for a speedy recovery to Silvio Berlusconi,” Ms Meloni wrote on social media, adding: “Forza Silvio (Come on Silvio).”