MILAN – Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has been admitted to hospital in Monaco for heart problems, his personal doctor told Reuters on Thursday.
Alberto Zangrillo said he saw Berlusconi on Monday and decided to transfer him to a nearby hospital because he did not consider it wise to bring him to Italy, which is about 20 km from the small town state.
The Italian ANSA news agency reported the news for the first time. It was not immediately clear whether the emergency was overcome in health, but Berlusconi later said in a statement that he was “in good health.”
“Due to the caution of my doctors, I had to go to the hospital for some examinations,” he said, adding that he was in contact with his staff as Italy was dealing with the political crisis threatening the cabinet led by Giuseppe Conte to bring coronavirus pandemic.
The 84-year-old media magnate underwent serious heart surgery in 2016 and also survived prostate cancer.
Last September, he was admitted to hospital after contracting coronavirus. He later told reporters that the virus was “the most dangerous challenge” in his life. Berlusconi spent much of his time repairing his daughter Marina in Provence, southern France.
Berlusconi also remains head of the opposition party Forza Italia. His illness comes because Italy was hit by political chaos after a junior coalition party resigned the government and deprived it of the majority in parliament.
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Newspapers have speculated that some Forza Italia lawmakers may agree to leave party ranks and help Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte prevent early elections.
Shares in Mediaset, the Berlusconi family-owned broadcaster, jumped 2.9 percent on Thursday after initial reports of its latest health scare.
Traders have speculated about possible changes in ownership of the group if Berlusconi’s condition worsens.
For the past five years, Mediaset has been at the center of a legal battle between Berlusconi’s family owned by Fininvest and its second largest shareholder, the French media giant Vivendi.