Charlemagne

摘要

Journalists arriving at Rome's Palazzo dello Sport to cover the opening of the European Union's constitutional conference on October 4th were greeted by fine examples of 1930s art and architecture. Outside the building stood a statue of an athlete giving a fascist salute. Next to it a stone frieze of heroes included the balding, barrel-chested figure of Benito Mussolini, Italy's dictator at the time the hall was built. Any European heads of government who found these surroundings a mite unsettling will doubtless have been reassured by the opening address from Silvio Berlusconi, the balding, barrel-chested prime minister of today's Italy. Mr Berlusconi told his fellow leaders that "this is the conference of European will, the will of Europe to be Europe." Keen to ensure a triumphant outcome, he urged the conference to come up with a "quality agreement".