Colleagues of Silvio Berlusconi have expressed hope that Italy’s former prime minister will return to frontline politics after he was rushed to intensive care with breathing problems, the BBC reports.
Health bulletins describe his condition as “stable and alert” and reports say he is being treated for a form of leukaemia, a cancer of the blood.
A four-time prime minister and media mogul, Mr Berlusconi still leads his party and is an elected senator.
But his health has suffered.
He had heart surgery in 2016 and then contracted pneumonia in 2020 after catching Covid-19. He has since been treated in hospital on several occasions.
“We want to be optimistic” said Antonio Tajani, Italy’s foreign minister and one of the most senior figures in Mr Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party.
Mr Berlusconi, 86. was admitted to intensive care in the cardiac unit at San Raffaele hospital in Milan on Wednesday, only six days after he was discharged following four days of check-ups.
