The Ukrainian Security Service has declared former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi persona non grata for three years, citing threats to national security, Apostrof internet portal reported Thursday.
In Crimea
This article originally appeared at Sputniknews
Last week, Italian ex-prime minister visited Crimea and met with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
According to him, Putin showed him very interesting places on the Black Sea peninsula, in particular the ancient city of Tauric Chersonese, the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
This is the third meeting of Putin and Berlusconi this year. Early in June, the Russian president traveled to Rome to meet with Pope Francis and Italian leadership, including Berlusconi. Following the meeting, Berlusconi said that his Forza Italia party would advocate for lifting the anti-Russia economic sanctions imposed by the European Union due to the Ukrainian crisis.
“A decision was made on September 14, 2015, to prohibit Italian citizen Silvio Berlusconi from entering the territory of Ukraine for [a period of] three years in the interests of providing security to our state,” Ukraine’s Security Service said in a response to the portal.
It’s okay. Crimea’s nicer than any part of Ukraine, and Crimea’s part of Russia now so Berlusconi can go there anytime he wants, since he’s a friend of Putin’s. Why would he care about not being able to enter Ukraine?