Today is the day of greeting a Silvio Berlusconi died in the San Raffaele hospital in Milan at the age of 86. The state funeral in his honor will be held at the Milan Cathedral at 15, while the whole country will observe a national day of mourning. Flags at half-mast in the Senate and Palazzo Chigi and in all the institutional buildings of the country and in the three seats of the European Parliament.
The news of Berlusconi's death aroused great emotion all over the world and many Italian and international political leaders, but also ordinary people expressed his personal memory and homage to the late leader of Forza Italia and controversial former prime minister. There burial chamber, initially scheduled at the Mediaset studios in Cologno Monzese, had been set up in Berlusconi's private residence at Villa San Martino in Arcore, where family and close friends paid homage to the former prime minister. Access to the villa has been limited to family members only for safety reasons.
IERI (Yesterday) also there commemoration at the European Parliament in memory of Silvio Berlusconi: "A fighter who founded and led the center-right in Italy, a protagonist of politics for generations and contributed to crucial passages in European and Italian history", said the president of the European Parliament, Robert Metsol. “There are no words to describe my emotion every time she told me 'I'm proud of you and what you do'. And I've always known very well that she was addressing us all: I alone could have done nothing. Nothing” was the son's thought Pier Silvio, CEO of Mfe-Mediaset, in a letter sent today to all collaborators of the Mediaset group.
At 15 pm the state funeral at the Milan Cathedral. Who will be there?
I state funeral they will take place at 15:00 in the Milan Cathedral. The ceremony will be celebrated by the Archbishop of Milan, Monsignor Mario Delpini. The coffin will stop for a few minutes in the churchyard before entering the church. The family will sit on the right side, while the authorities on the left. Numerous requests to participate but only 2 thousand people will be present in the Cathedral. The presence of numerous Italian and international political leaders is expected, including the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella.
All the personalities of the government will be present with the Premier Melons, in Milan since yesterday. On behalf of the EU Commission, the European Commissioner for Economic Affairs was present Paolo Gentiloni. The former Prime Ministers will also participate in the funeral Mario Draghi e Mario Monti. As for the parties, the secretary of the Democratic Party will be present Elly Schlein, the leader of Iv Matteo Renzi, the secretary of Action Carlo Calenda, the founder of the League Umberto Bossy, the secretary of +Europe Benedict DellaVedova e Pier Ferdinando Casini.
Among the international guests, the heads of state of three countries are expected, as well as the Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad, the president of Iraq Abdul Latif Rashid and both Captains Regent of the Republic of San Marino, Alexander Scarano e Adele Tonnini. The Hungarian premier will be there Viktor Orban e Manfred weber, president of the EPP group. The ceremony will also be attended by several foreign ministers (of Croatia, Kosovo, Malta, Tunisia), 47 ambassadors including those of France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Spain and representatives of the governments of Armenia, the Netherlands, Serbia as well as a special envoy from Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
among the absent Verdi and the Italian Left have announced that they will not attend the funeral and with them also the president of the 5 Star Movement Giuseppe Conte. Not present Romano Prodihit yesterday by the death of his wife Flavia.
How and where to see Berlusconi's state funeral
Will set up big screens in Piazza Duomo to allow people to follow the event. The entrance to the square is free but the capacity will be at most of 20 thousand people. Piazza Duomo will be cordoned off from 10 in the morning. People will not be able to go where the authorities will enter (entrance to the Cathedral is expected between 14,30 and 15 pm) as reported by the Councilor for Security of the Municipality of Milan Marco Granelli: "we have proposed the system that we usually use for concerts while people will not be able to go where there will be an entrance to the authorities".
The production of the live television will be made by Mediaset. Cavaliere's TV has announced that it will make the signal available to Italian and foreign broadcasters with audio and without commentary. But for broadcasters it will also be possible to have a station for operators outside the Milan Cathedral, so as to be able to integrate with the comments of their reporters.
The event will be transmitted live on Rai1, Canale 5, La7 and on the information channels RaiNews24 and SkyTg. There will be special editions of the news (Tg5, Tg1, TgLa7) that will cover the event while live streaming will also be available on online platforms, such as RaiPlay and Mediaset Infinity.
There won't be aarea reserved for the press near the Cathedral. The decision was made in the meetings and site inspections that followed between the cathedral and the prefecture. Journalists who want to participate will enter in a limited way and on the basis of available places. No video operator, on the other hand, will be authorized to position themselves inside. Photographers and journalists will not even be able to stand outside next to the South door from where the main authorities will enter. For the media there will be two reserved and cordoned off areas in the square, one for photographers and cameramen, and one, next to one of the giant screens dedicated to journalists.
Forza Italia Basilicata has announced that a giant screen will be set up at the Grande Albergo in Potenza to follow the event.
How and why state funerals are held
State funerals are required by Italian law for all former heads of government. They are regulated by law n. 36 of 7 February 1987, which at theArticle 1 provides that "the expenses for the funeral of the President of the Republic, the President of the Senate, the President of the Chamber of Deputies, the President of the Council of Ministers and the President of the Constitutional Court shall be borne by the State, whether the death occurs during the permanence in office, whether it occurs after the termination of the same". L'Article 2 provides that state funerals are granted to "personalities who have rendered particular services to the country, as well as Italian and foreign citizens or stateless persons who have illustrated the Italian nation in the fields of science, literature, the arts, work, economy, sport and social activities”.
It 'sState Ceremonial Office of the Presidency of the Council that yes takes care of the ceremony. It is expected that the coffin is escorted by six carabinieri in full uniform and that military honors be reserved for him when entering and leaving the place of the ceremony. There will then be aofficial memorial service and any other obligations established by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. In the past almost all the families of the former prime ministers preferred private funerals with the exception of Giovanni Spadolini in 1994, Amintore Fanfani in 1999 and Giovanni Leone in 2001.
It is a different matter regarding the National mourning which is, however, established at the discretion of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. Flags of public buildings will be flown at half-mast. The flags displayed inside are brown with two strips of black tie veil. Furthermore, during the period of mourning, public authorities must abstain from social commitments with the exception of charity events. It had never happened in the history of the Republic that national mourning was declared for the death of a former prime minister. Not even for Aldo Moro, assassinated by the Red Brigades. The only exceptions were for Carlo Azeglio Ciampi and Giovanni Leone, who however had also been presidents of the Republic. This is why the proclamation of national mourning for a divisive figure like Silvio Berlusconi divides the country
The commemoration in the Senate is scheduled for Tuesday 20 June at 15 pm. The commemoration in the Chamber has yet to be defined. Work will resume on Thursday 15.
Where will Berlusconi be buried?
Berlusconi had expressed the desire to be buried in the mausoleum which he built at Villa San Martino for himself, his family and his closest friends. The mausoleum, called "Sky", is an impressive work created byartist Pietro Cascella with about one hundred tons of white marble from the Apuan Alps equipped with 36 niches and a heating system. His idea of a mausoleum without religious symbols, but inspired by heaven, dates back to his father's death in 1989 and was completed in 1990. Theimpressive tomb but it is empty and the Knight's wish may not come true due to the Italian law which does not provide for burial near homes. At the moment, the mayor of Arcore, Maurizio Bono, has not received any requests. Most likely Berlusconi will buried in the monumental cemetery of Milan where mother Rosa and father Luigi are buried in the monumental cemetery of Milan.